PBESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICHL  SEMINKRY 


Ppofcssof  J^cnry  von  Dyke,  D.D.,  IiLit.O. 

BX  5937  ,J3    M3 

Jaggar,  Thomas  Augustus, 


1839-1912. 
The  man  of  the  ages,  and 
other  recent  sermons 


THE 

MAN   OF  THE  AGES 

AND    OTHER 

RECENT  SERMONS 


BY  THE    / 

RT.  REV.  THOMAS  A.  JAGGAR,  D.  D. 

BISHOP   OF    SOUTHERN   OHIO 


NEW  YORK 
JAMES    POTT   &   CO.  Publishers 

FOURTH  AVENUE  AND  22D  STREET 
1898 


Copyright,  1898,  by 
James  Pott  &  CoMrANY. 


TO 

MR.  AND  MRS.  FRANK  HOUSTON  WYETH 

PHILADELPHIANS 

FAITHFUL  PARISHIONERS,   LONG-LOVED  FRIENDS 

THIS   VOLUME 

IS  GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED 


Published  by  Request 


CONTENTS. 


I.  The  Man  of  the  Ages i 

II.  The  Reconciling  Truth 21 

III.  God   Imaged    in    Human   Relation- 

ships        41 

IV.  Control  from  Within 61 

V.  The  Love  of  God  in  Christ    ...  77 

VI.  Life    in  the  Light  of  the  Resur- 
rection       97 

VII.  Staying  by  the  Stuff 117 

VIII.  Does  God  Care? 139 

IX.  The  Temple  of  God  in  us  .    .    .    .  163 

X.  The  Temple  and  the  Street  .    .    .  iSi 

XI.  The  Worth  of  Manhood     ....  197 

XII.  The  Everlasting  Possession    .    .    .  219 

XIII.  "My  Lord  and  my  God"     ....  239 

XIV.  Other  Men's  Labours 259 

XV.  Reality  in  the  Christian  Life    .    .  277 

XVI.  Mortality  Swallowed  up  of  Life: 

An  Easter  Sermon 297 

XVII.  Seeking     First    the    Kingdom     of 

God       3'5 

XVIII.  Cleansed  in  Going 335 

XIX.  The  Military  Idea 353 

XX.  Religion  and  Social  Science  ...  379 


I. 


€]^e  0ian  of  tl^e  ageis. 


I. 

THE   MAN    OF   THE   AGES. 

Jesus  said  unio  them,   Verify,  verify,  I  say  unto  you, 
Before  AbraJiam  was,  I  am.  —  St.  John  viii.  58. 

THERE  is  a  confusion  of  tenses  in  this  saying 
of  Jesus  Ciirist  which  strikes  strangely  upon 
the  ear.  It  is  language  evidently  from  some 
sphere  foreign  to  our  earth.  It  seemed  to  the 
Jews  awful  blasphemy,  for  it  was  so  that  God 
had  named  Himself  to  Moses  out  of  the  burning, 
fiery  bush  on  Horeb.  Jesus  Christ  dared  to 
rise,  in  His  conflict  with  the  baffled  Pharisees, 
to  this  sublimity  of  presumption.  There  He 
stood,  a  care-worn  peasant  of  Galilee,  with 
nothing  in  the  outward  conditions  of  His  life  to 
separate  Him  from  the  humblest  of  His  fellows. 
It  was  the  claim  of  a  lunatic,  which  could  not 
have  survived  beyond  the  moment  of  its  utter- 
ance, had  there  not  been  something  in  Him  to 
give  it  dignity  and  conceivability.  It  has  sur- 
3 


THIS  M/tN   OF   THE  AGLS. 


vived.  It  has  stood  the  test  of  ages.  "  They 
crucified  Him,"  but  somehow  it  seems  quite 
natural  and  not  at  all  strange,  as  we  read  the 
words  now,  that  He  should  have  had  to  speak 
from  outside  of  time — from  the  "  eternal  Now  "  : 
"  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am." 

The  words  can  mean  nothing  less  than  that 
He  is  "  I  AM  "  in  and  over  all  the  ages  of  time. 
He  claims  to  be  unchangeably  present — a  liv- 
ing, undying  force  at  every  point  of  human  his- 
tory. It  was  a  splendid  claim.  What,  indeed, 
could  realise  more  fully  all  that  human  need  and 
philosophy  and  science  are  striving  after  than 
such  a  Man  of  the  Ages,  set  like  a  fixed  star  in 
our  firmament,  and  shining  more  and  more, 
while  other  stars  rise  and  set,  or  flash  meteor- 
like across  our  view  and  vanish  into  darkness? 

I  ask  you  to  think  with  me  of  some  features 
of  the  Christ-life  which  seem  to  place  Him 
above  all  other  religious  leaders  and  to  confirm 
His  claim  to  be  the  Man  of  the  Ages. 

I.  And  first  note  that  the  ages  which  pre- 
ceded  Him  ivere  fuljillcd  i?i  Hint.  He  came, 
not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  The  word  "  fulfil  " 
in   the   Greek  of  the  New  Testament  means 


THB  MAN   01'   THE  AGES. 


much  more  than  our  English  word  in  its  popu- 
lar acceptation.  It  means  to  "  fill  up  to  the  full," 
or,  using  the  more  philosophical  form  of  expres- 
sion, to  "  realise  the  full  and  complete  ideal." 

The  teaching  of  Christ  was  not  original, — it 
would  have  been  a  foreign  tongue  to  the  world 
of  humanity  if  it  had  been, — but  the  truth  of 
His  person  and  life  and  work  was  original.  It 
was  the  emerging  into  form  and  power  and  a 
new,  visible  creation,  of  that  which  had  been 
struggling  towards  the  light  in  the  minds  of  men 
from  the  beginning.  He  was  the  "  realised  ideal  " 
of  that  which  they  had  been  darkly  groping 
after,  "if  haply  they  might  find  Him."  He 
dimmed  the  lesser  lights  of  Jewish,  Egyptian, 
Persian,  Buddhistic,  and  Greek  thought. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  prove  that  all  the  ages 
of  Jewish  history  were  leading  up  to  Him.  This 
is  a  fact  which  is  bound  up  in  our  Bible.  He 
realised  in  Himself  temple  and  prophecy. 
Christianity  is  the  culmination  and  completion 
of  that  Judaism  which  reached  back  over  twenty 
centuries.  With  the  clear  vision  of  one  to 
whom  and  in  whom  all  ages  were  living.  He 
said  to  the  Jews,  in  language  from  above,  which 


THE  MAN   OF   THE  AGES. 


they  could  not  understand :  "  Your  father  Abra- 
ham rejoiced  to  see  My  day :  and  he  saw  it,  and 
was  glad." 

Outside  of  the  Jewish  world  were  the  nations 
of  whom  Christ  said :  "  Many  shall  come  from 
the  east  and  the  west,  and  sit  down  with  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Confucius,  Sakya-Muni  the  Buddha,  and  the 
Greek  philosophers  were  prophets  too,  who  saw 
as  through  a  glass,  darkly,  the  truth  which 
Christ  realised  in  fact.  The  Greek  philosophy 
was  the  purest  expression  of  spiritual  thought, 
the  loftiest  reach  of  human  reason,  which  the 
thinkers  of  the  world  had  attained.  But  the 
beautiful  abstractions  of  Plato,  too  remote  for 
the  common  life  of  men,  were  transmuted  by 
Christianity  into  the  current  gold  of  the  very 
humanity  that  his  mind  regarded  as  hopelessly 
barbarian.  Plato  himself  taught  that  "  we  must 
wait  for  one,  be  it  a  God  or  a  God-inspired 
man,  who  will  teach  us  our  religious  duties  and 
take  away  the  darkness  from  our  eyes."  The 
Christ  in  His  person  and  life  and  word  realised 
this  long-looked-for  ideal,  and  in  the  brightness 
of  His  rising  made  a  new  day  for  the  world. 


THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 

Renan  has  said :  "  Eliminate  from  the  teach- 
ing cf  Jesus  Christ  all  the  moralities  which 
were  known  to  the  world  before  Him,  and  what 
have  you  left?"  It  is  a  very  shallow  saying. 
No  thoughtful  Christian  denies  that  there  were 
moral  instincts  seeking  and  finding  expression 
in  the  wisdom  of  philosophers  before  Christ.  It 
is  the  v\'orn-out  taunt  of  sceptics  that  the  golden 
rule  is  to  be  found  in  the  teaching  of  Confucius. 
It  is  true  that  a  negative  form  of  it  is  to  be 
found  there:  "Whatsoever  ye  would  not  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  not  to  them." 
The  positive  saying  of  Christ,  "  Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so 
to  them,"  is  a  flowering  out  of  it  as  superior  as  the 
law,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself," 
is  superior  to  the  Jewish  negations,  "  Thou  shalt 
not  kill,  steal,  or  commit  adultery."  There  are 
doubtless  many  resemblances  to  be  traced  be- 
tween the  positive  teaching  of  Christ  and  the 
fragmentary  suggestions  which  preceded  Him  ; 
but  the  fact  remains  that  on  these  two  command- 
ments, in  the  broadest  possible  sense,  hang  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets  :  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  v^ath  all  thy  heart,  and  .  .  .  soul, 


THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 


and  .  .  .  mind,  and  .  .  .  strength  ;  and  thy  neigli- 
bour  as  thyself."  Eliminate  from  the  natural 
creation  all  the  seething  forces  which  were  at 
work  when  "  the  earth  was  without  form,  and 
void;  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the 
deep,"  and  what  have  you  left?  It  is  true  that 
there  would  be  no  beautiful  creation  at  all.  But 
God  said,  "  Let  light  be:  and  light  was  "  ;  and 
man  was  evolved,  made  in  God's  image,  after 
God's  likeness. 

The  same  is  true  in  our  spiritual  world.  The 
new  creation  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  its  infinite 
possibilities,  could  have  no  existence  apart  from 
humanity  and  its  strivings  after  God  and  truth  ; 
but  "  God,"  says  Paul,  "  who  commanded  the 
light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in 
our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 
The  light  and  the  life  were  potent  in  Him  for 
a  new  creation,  as  they  were  not  in  all  the  cha- 
otic ages  which  preceded  Him.  There  was 
nothing  in  all  the  thought  of  the  ages  before 
Him  worthy  to  survive  which  was  not  absorbed 
in  the  brightness  of  His  shining  as  the  sun  ab- 


sorbs the  dawn. 


THE  MAN   OP   THE  AGES. 


II.  But  I  ask  you  to  observe  again  that,  while 
the  ages  which  preceded  Christ  were  fulfilled, 
or  filled  full,  by  Him,  He  overfloived  the  age 
into  which  He  was  historically  born.  He  was 
a  Jew,  but  Judaism  could  not  contain  Him. 
His  thought  burst  from  the  Mosaic  seed-shell 
into  words  which  were  spirit  and  life.  He  had 
to  speak  down  to  the  capacity  of  His  own  na- 
tion, as  a  teacher  speaks  to  children  by  object- 
lessons.  No  one  can  read  with  an  unbiassed 
mind  the  New  Testament,  and  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  immense  reserve  force  of  His 
character  and  words.  He  taught  them  "  many 
things  in  parables"  because  they  were  in  the 
childhood  of  the  infinite  life  of  that  "  whole 
family  in  heaven  and  earth  "  which  was  present 
to  His  mind.  Even  to  His  chosen  few,  unto 
whom  it  was  "  given  to  know  the  mysteries  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  He  could  not  make  Him- 
self fully  known.  They  began  to  realise  the 
depth  and  universality  of  His  purpose  only  after 
He  had  left  the  earth. 

He  was  strangely  outside  of  His  own  time ; 
and  yet  He  was  no  recluse,  neither  did  He  ex- 
haust Himself  in  vague  or  wild  speculations. 


THE  MAN   OF   THE  AGES. 


He  \v8.s  simply  the  carpenter's  son,  until  He 
showed  Himself  in  the  broad  daylight  of  those 
three  brief  years  of  public  ministry.  He  was 
known  then  as  the  "  Friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners."  His  followers  were  poor,  obscure, 
unlearned  fishermen.  He  seems  to  have  drawn 
them  by  the  force  of  His  personahty  rather  than 
by  His  teaching.  He  touched  the  groaning 
humanity  of  His  time  with  an  infinite  pity,  which 
found  expression  in  healing,  helping  acts,  and 
which,  reinforcing  His  words,  marked  the  be- 
ginnings of  a  great  uplifting.  But  His  life  was 
not  understood.  They  said:  "He  casteth  out 
de\'ils  through  Beelzebub  the  prince  of  the 
devils."  He  preached  the  gospel  to  the  poor, 
and  proclaimed  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world. 
They  looked  for  a  temporal  lord  and  kingdom. 
He  knew  that  His  life  and  words,  while  He 
lived,  could  not  be  understood.  This  conscious- 
ness appears  through  all  His  living  in  time.  It 
was  the  shadow  of  that  cross  which  awaited 
Him  at  the  end.  He  attempted  no  local  or  na- 
tional reforms  ;  He  would  not  entangle  Himself 
with  any  of  the  political,  religious,  or  social 
questions  of  His  time.     They  brought  Him  the 


THE  MAN  OP  THE  AGES. 


tribute-money,  asking  if  it  was  lawful  to  give 
tribute  unto  Caesar  or  not,  and  He  answered: 
"  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's ; 
and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's."  They 
brought  Him  their  marriage  problems,  and  He 
replied  to  the  question  of  divorce  in  words  of 
profound  meaning :  "  What  God  hath  joined 
together,  let  not  man  put  asunder  " ;  and  to  the 
question,  "  Whose  wife  shall  she  be  hereafter 
who  has  been  seven  times  married?"  "In  the 
resurrection  they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given 
in  marriage ;  but  are  as  angels  in  heaven."  One 
came  to  Him  with  a  property  grievance,  saying : 
"  Speak  to  my  brother,  that  he  divide  the  in- 
heritance with  mc."  He  answered:  "Man, 
who  made  me  a  judge  and  a  divider  over 
you  ?  Take  heed,  and  beware  of  covetousness." 
There  is  a  sublime  consciousness  of  something 
far  greater  than  earthly  empire  —  yes,  higher 
than  even  we  can  yet  understand — in  His  reply 
to  Pilate  when,  haggard,  bleeding,  the  crown  of 
thorns  upon  His  head,  He  stood  before  that 
wavering  governor  in  the  judgment-hall :  "Thou 
sayest  that  I  am  a  king.  To  this  end  was  I 
born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world. 


12  THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 

that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth. 
Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  ]\Iy 
voice." 

Because  He  could  not  possibly  be  understood 
by  His  own  people,  He  had  to  die.  It  was 
strange,  but  true,  that  He  could  give  His  life 
and  truth  to  the  world  only  by  dying.  Had  He 
yielded  to  the  blind  literalism  of  His  own  peo- 
ple. He  might  have  been,  like  Mohammed,  the 
maker  of  kingdoms,  but  He  would  not  have 
been  the  world's  Christ.  He  could  not  be  the 
spiritual  King  of  men,  and  take  the  sword.  He 
could  prove  Himself  superior  only  by  yielding 
to  the  sword.  He  lived  His  life  out  to  the  bit- 
ter end  with  a  calm,  unfaltering  purpose  which 
no  threatening  could  shake  nor  temptings  of 
ambition  cause  to  swerve.  He  gave  Himself  to 
the  cross,  and  "  He  is  alive  for  evermore." 

HI.  I  have  said  that  the  Christ  fulfilled  the 
past  and  overflowed  the  age  in  which  He 
historically  lived.  There  is  another  fact  which 
adds  to  His  years  nineteen  centuries.  The 
present  has  not  exhausted  Him ;  He  is  still  the 
"I    AM." 

That   He  once  lived  on  the  earth,  and  was 


THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 


13 


"  crucified,  dead,  buried,"  the  severest  criticism 
will  allow.  That  something  happened  after  His 
death  which  gave  a  wonderful  impulse  to  the 
faith  and  zeal  of  His  disciples  must  also  be  ad- 
mitted. That  through  and  in  them  He  has  lived 
and  been  a  powerful,  wide-spreading  influence 
down  to  the  present  (creating,  indeed,  a  new 
civilization),  are  obvious,  commonplace  facts  of 
history.  Account  as  you  may  for  the  facts, 
there  was  such  force  in  the  leaven  which  Christ 
put  into  the  minds  of  a  few  obscure  men  that  it 
spread  in  spite  of  persecution,  and  permeated 
the  known  world.  It  is  beyond  all  criticism 
true  that  His  influence  in  the  world  has  worked 
exactly  as  He  said  it  would  —  "like  leaven," 
silently,  slowly,  continuousl)^  powerfully.  It 
is  a  working,  living  force  to-day,  as  perplexing 
to  foes,  and  as  inexhaustible  in  its  m.eaning  for 
mankind,  as  when  He  taught  in  Jerusalem.  It 
is  too  late,  in  this  age  of  long  perspective  down 
through  the  ages  of  history,  to  hold  Jesus  Christ 
responsible  for  the  evil  that  has  been  done  in 
His  name.  The  very  spirit  of  this  later  age 
which  denounces  it,  is  the  evolution  of  His  spirit 
through  and  over  it.     I  am  quite  aware  that  in 


H 


THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 


the  fervent  heat  of  our  modern  thought  Chris- 
tianity is  being  tested  as  never  before.  But 
through  all  the  glow  of  the  burning,  fiery  fur- 
nace, I  see  the  glorified  form  of  Jesus  Christ 
shining  with  undimmed  lustre.  John  Stuart 
Mill  expressed  the  mind  of  pure,  merciless, 
logical  reason  in  the  one  concession  which  he 
was  forced  to  make  to  revealed  religion,  in  the 
words :  "  Whatever  else  may  be  taken  away  by 
rational  criticism,  Christ  is  still  left,  a  unique 
figure,  not  more  unlike  all  His  precursors  than 
all  His  followers;  nor  even  now  would  it  be 
easy  even  for  an  unbeliever  to  find  a  better 
translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue  from  the  ab- 
stract into  the  concrete,  than  to  endeavor  so  to 
live  that  Christ  would  approve  our  life."  The 
science  of  to-day  recognises  the  infinities  as  it 
did  not  thirty  years  ago.  The  reconciliation  of 
science  with  all  honest  progressive  Christian 
thought  is  indeed  a  fact  accomplished.  There 
are  boundless  possibilities  in  this  and  other 
movements  towards  unity.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
no  unbiassed  naturalist  of  thirty  years  ago  would 
have  recognised  "  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  summit  and  crown  of  the  orcranic  se- 


THE  MAhl  OF   THE  AGES.  is 

ries,  .  .  .  expressing  the  final  result  of  that 
directed  striving  which  began  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  years  ago,  and  through  infinite  toil  and 
pain  has  led  to  this  supreme  accomplishment." 
It  is  the  language  of  a  mature  naturalist  of  to- 
day who  cannot  be  suspected  of  a  religious  bias. 
It  is  the  clear,  cold  crystallisation  of  a  mind 
working  through  the  processes  of  long  observa- 
tion and  experience,  and  as  such  is  the  type  of 
a  whole  class  of  thinkers, 

I  well  remember,  in  my  own  early  ministry, 
the  stir  caused  by  Draper's  somewhat  virulent 
history  of  the  "  Conflict  between  Science  and 
Religion."  That  history  has  been  rewritten 
by  a  scholar  of  to-day,  who  discriminates,  as 
Draper  did  not,  between  religion  and  dogmatic 
theology ;  and  after  an  exhaustive,  valuable, 
and  severely  impartial  review  of  the  latest  bibli- 
cal research,  he  uses  these  words :  "  It  has  dis- 
engaged more  and  more  as  the  only  valuable 
residuum, — like  the  mass  of  gold  at  the  bottom 
of  the  crucible, —  the  personality,  spirit,  teach- 
ing, and  ideals  of  the  blessed  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity." 

Philosophy    is    imbued    with    the    spirit    of 


l6  THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 

Christ's  teaching.  The  broadest  thought  along 
the  lines  of  the  theory  of  evolution  finds  the 
ultimate  destiny  of  man  in  the  time  when  the 
physical  shall  be  dominated  by  the  psychical, 
and  in  the  truest  sense  "  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of  .  .  .  Christ ; 
and  He  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever,"  "  King 
of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords."  Literature  is 
putting  into  popular  form  the  story  of  the 
Christ,  and  both  literature  and  art  are  full  of 
Him  in  a  renaissance  of  Christian  thought  pecu- 
liar to  our  time.  A  very  modern  French  realis- 
tic painting  suggests  as  the  scene  of  the  cruci- 
fixion a  hill  overlooking  Paris,  with  the  dead 
form  and  the  weeping  Vv'omen,  and  a  working- 
man  shaking  his  fist  over  the  gay,  indifferent  city. 
Now  do  not  suppose  that  I  am  blind  to  the 
fact  that  there  is  a  wide-spread  scepticism,  or 
at  least  indifference  to  the  forms  of  religion,  in 
our  time.  I  am  not  arguing  that  the  world  is 
Christian,  but  that  Christ  is  working  profoundly 
in  the^world's  highest  thought,  and  that  He  is 
surviving  through  the  most  intense  criticism 
that  can  be  focussed  upon  Him.  It  was  through 
His  own  "preaching  the  gospel  to  the  poor" 


THE  MAN   OF   THE   AGES.  i-j 


that  the  new  principle  of  free  and  universal 
education  entered  into  our  modern  life.  The 
world's  best  thought  circulates  through  the 
whole  body,  and  when  that  thought  is  reacting 
towards  God  and  Christ  and  the  infinities  we 
need  not  dread  the  issue. 

It  means  much,  I  think,  for  the  average  hu- 
man nature  of  this  year  of  grace  that  it  is  ca- 
pable of  responding  to  such  fiction  as  Charles 
Dickens's  "  Christmas  Carol."  It  is  only  in  the 
warmth  of  that  new  spirit  of  humanity  which 
Christ  breathed  into  the  world  that  we  have 
become  capable  either  of  creating  or  of  being 
touched  by  such  a  conception  as  that  of  the  old 
miser  weeping  bitter,  penitent  tears  over  the 
vision  of  his  ovv'n  neglected  grave,  and  crying 
out:  "  I  will  honour  Christmas  in  my  heart,  and 
try  to  keep  it  all  the  year! " 

I  have  said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  realised 
ideal  of  the  ages  which  preceded  Him ;  that  He 
overflowed  the  age  in  which  historically  He  lived  ; 
and  that,  afternineteen  centuries.  He  is  before  the 
world  as  fresh  and  inexhaustible  as  when  He  stood 
before  the  scornful  Pilate.  The  doubt  of  the  day 
finds  itself  more  than  ever  perplexed  by  the  ques- 


1 8  THE  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 


tion,  What  shall  we  do,  then,  \Yith  Jesus?  As 
the  past  has  not  been  able  to  exhaust  Hun,  no 
prophet's  vision  is  needed  to  perceive  that  the 
future  cannot  outgroiv  Him.  "  You  may  de- 
stroy our  churches,"  said  a  French  peasant 
to  an  atheist  in  the  time  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, "  but  you  cannot  destroy  the  stars 
which  shine  in  the  eternal  heavens.  The  more 
you  demolish  our  steeples,  the  more  clearly 
shall  we  see  these  worlds  above."  The  Star  of 
Bethlehem  abides,  and  must  abide,  because  He 
contains  within  Himself  principles  which  are 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  Humanity  can  never 
outgrow  such  truths  as  these  :  "  God  is  a  Spirit : 
and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth."  "  Love  God,  and  your 
neighbour  as  yourself."  "  Walk  in  the  Spirit, 
and  ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh." 
"  This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  Thee, 
the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom 
Thou  hast  sent."  It  matters  little,  so  far  as  my 
present  argument  is  concerned,  whether  He  is  re- 
garded as  the  most  consummate  genius  that  the 
world  ever  knev/,  or  as  God  manifest  in  the  flesh ; 
because  the  genius  was  so  pure,  far-seeing,  and 


THE  MAM  OF   THE  AGES.  ig 


universal  that  there  seems  to  be  no  rational  es- 
cape from  the  conclusion  that  He  was  all  that 
He  claimed  to  be  —  Immanuel,  God  with  us.  I 
believe  that  the  future  will  find  in  the  fact 
of  the  Incarnation  truth  which  shall  reconcile 
the  natural  and  the  supernatural,  and  "  gather 
together  in  one  all  things  in  Christ,  both  which 
are  in  heaven,  and  which  are  on  earth." 

Standing  as  we  do  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new 
century,  what  thought  could  be  more  inspiring 
and  helpful  than  this?  As  across  the  stormy  sea, 
when  the  disciples  were  toiling  in  rowing,  they 
saw  Him  walking  upon  the  v.-aters,  and  heard 
Him  saying,  "  It  is  I ;  be  not  afraid,"  so  may 
we  be  confident  that  He  is  above  time  and 
space,  the  master  of  wind  and  waves.  There  is 
no  more  certain  good  in  this  present  scheme  of 
things  for  you  and  me  than  to  live  as  He  would 
have  us  live  —  keeping  under  our  bodies,  and 
bringing  them  into  subjection;  subduing  the 
flesh  to  the  spirit;  walking  in  love,  as  He  also 
loved  us,  and  gave  Himself  for  us;  seeking  in 
every  relation,  as  mothers,  fathers,  brothers, 
sisters,  citizens,  students,  business  men,  and 
working-men,  to  make  the  world  of  our  time  the 


20  7-/y£  MAN  OF  THE  AGES. 

better,  purer,  wiser,  and  happier  for  our  being. 
The  great  poet  who  has  "  crossed  the  bar  "  sang : 

"  Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the  new. 

Ring,  happy  bells,  across  the  snow: 
The  year  is  going,  let  him  go; 
Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true." 

He  also  sang: 

*'  Ring  in  the  valiant  man  and  free, 

The  larger  heart,  the  kindlier  hand; 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 
Rinij  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 


II. 
€]^e  iSeconciling  Crut^* 


II. 

THE   RECONCILING   TRUTH. 

Jesus  saith  7inio  her,  IVoiiian,  believe  Me,  the  hour 
Cometh^  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor 
yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father.  Ye  worship  ye 
know  not  what:  we  know  what  we  worship;  for  sal- 
vation is  of  the  Je7vs.  But  the  hour  cometh,  and  notu 
is,  when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the 
Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth:  for  the  Father  seckefh 
such  to  worship  JJim.  —  ?)i\  John  iv.  21-23. 

THERE  are  few  incidents  of  our  Lord's  life 
in  which  the  human  and  the  divine  appear 
more  beautifully  blended  than  in  this  conversa- 
tion with  the  Samaritan  woman  by  Jacob's  well. 
He  was  human  in  His  weariness.  Travel-worn, 
at  the  close  of  the  day,  He  sat  by  the  well. 
The  woman  came  to  draw  water.  He  surprised 
her  by  asking  her  to  give  Him  drink.  She  was 
surprised,  because  the  Samaritans  and  Jews  were 
political  and  religious  foes.  It  was  true  at  all 
times,  and  reaching  to  the  smallest  details  of  the 
23 


24 


THE  RECONCILING   TRUTH. 


ordinary  daily  life,  that  "  the  Jews  have  no 
dealings  with  the  Samaritans."  The  divine  life 
in  Him  escapes  and  overflows  the  prejudices 
natural  to  Him  as  a  Jew.  She  exclaims,  scorn- 
fully perhaps,  "  How  is  it  that  Thou,  being  a 
Jew,  askest  drink  of  me,  who  am  a  woman  of 
Samaria?  "  He  tells  her,  in  language  too  spirit- 
ual for  her  comprehension,  of  the  living  water 
which  He  could  give.  She  flippantly  replies : 
"  Sir,  give  me  this  water,  that  I  thirst  not,  nei- 
ther come  hither  to  draw."  She  sees  only  a 
dusty,  travel- worn  Jew;  but  He  speedily  and 
sternly  reads  to  her  a  page  out  of  her  own  pri- 
vate life  w-hich  startles  her  into  reverence.  "  Go 
call  thy  husband,  and  come  hither."  "  I  have 
no  husband,"  she  replied.  Jesus  said:  "Thou 
hast  well  said,  I  have  no  husband  :  for  thou  hast 
had  five  husbands ;  and  he  whom  thou  now  hast 
is  not  thy  husband:  in  that  saidst  thou  truly." 
Convicted  in  her  conscience,  she  seems  confus- 
edly to  try  to  excuse  herself  by  pleading  the 
perplexities  of  the  religious  question  of  her 
time:  "  Our  fathers  worshipped  in  this  moun- 
tain ;  and  ye  say,  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the  place 
where  men  ought  to  worship."     It  was  human 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH. 


25 


nature  striving,  as  it  has  done  in  all  ages, — 
not,  perhaps,  without  reason, —  to  justify  its  im- 
nioraUties  by  the  disagreements  and  antagonisms 
of  the  religious. 

Now  observe  how  our  Lord  meets  the  problem 
in  which  her  mind  seemed  to  be  entangled.  He 
does  not  compromise  vvith  the  Samaritan  heresy, 
for  He  distinctly  says :  "  Ye  worship  ye  know 
not  what:  we  know  what  wc  worship;  for  sal- 
vation is  of  the  JevvS."  His  people  were  in  the 
truth  so  far  as  the  historic  question  was  con- 
cerned. They  looked  for  the  Messiah  ;  they  wor- 
shipped towards  Him ;  and  He  was  to  come  of 
the  "  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh."  But 
He  lifts  the  whole  question  out  of  the  local  and 
material  into  the  light  and  air  of  a  new  spiritual 
day.  He  tells  her  that  the  worship  of  God  is 
no  longer  to  be  limited  to  places,  but  that  "  the 
true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in 
spirit  and  in  truth :  for  the  Father  seeketh  such 
to  worship  Him."  He  brings  in  a  larger,  higher 
truth,  which  dissolves  away  the  antagonisms 
which  had  their  origin  in  partial  knowledge,  or 
ignorance  of  the  whole  truth.  Neither  Jew  nor 
Samaritan  had  realised  the  true  idea  of  worship. 


26  THE   RECONCILING    TRUTH. 

They  had  locaHsed  God.  They  had  thought 
of  Him  as  outside  of  themselves.  They  had 
said,  "  Lo,  here!"  or  "  Lo,  there!"  and  quar- 
relled. He  said:  "God  is  a  Spirit:  and  they 
that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth." 

There  are  many  timely  suggestions  for  us  in 
Christ's  method  with  the  Samaritan  question. 
Here  was  the  standing  feud  of  ages,  separating" 
peoples  whose  religions  had  much  in  common, 
who  lived  in  close  neighbourhood,  and  yet  nei- 
ther had  understood  the  real  question  involved. 
Tlieir  differences  sprang  from  their  ignorance  of 
the  entire  truth.  Had  they  understood  that 
which  Christ  revealed,  there  v/ould  have  been 
no  ground  for  the  long,  bitter,  angry  war.  The 
Jews  were  in  the  truth  so  far  as  it  had  pro- 
gressed, and  the  Samaritans  were  essentially 
proselytes,  deriving  their  doctrines  and  practices 
from  Jewish  sources,  and  regarded  by  the  older 
tradition  as  on  the  level  of  ignorant  Jews.  The 
antagonism  continued,  and  doubtless  had  its 
uses,  until  the  hour  came  for  the  reconciling 
truth  to  disclose  itself.  There  was  a  process  of 
development  going  on,  a  secret,  unseen  growth, 


THE  RECONCILING   TRUTH.  27 

until  the  time  was  ripe  for  the  dead  branches  to 
drop  off  or  be  pruned  away,  that  the  new  hfe 
might  have  free  course. 

That  which  was  true  in  the  development  of 
Judaism  is  true  in  the  development  of  Chris- 
tianity. There  is  "  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear, 
after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  The  apos- 
tolic age,  with  its  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
did  not  exhaust  or  finally  express  the  whole 
truth  of  Christ's  teaching.  As  the  words  of 
patriarch  and  prophet  contain  deeper  meanings 
than  they  knew,  which  a  later  age  interpreted, 
so,  too,  the  apostles,  in  their  witness  of  the 
resurrection  and  its  kindred  doctrines,  witnessed 
of  mysteries  which  even  they  had  not  fully  com- 
prehended. St.  Paul,  with  all  his  searching 
wisdom,  exclaims,  "  Great  is  the  mystery  of 
godliness ! "  and  it  is  the  "  mystery  of  the  faith  " 
which  is  to  be  "  held  in  a  pure  conscience,"  that 
which  he  calls  the  "  hidden  wisdom."  The 
same  Holy  Spirit  which  illumined  the  apostles 
is  with  the  Church  now,  to  realise  through  the 
faithful  Christ's  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  The 
word  of  Christ  has  deeper  meanings  than  the 


28  THE  RECONCILING   TRUTH. 

honest  seekers  after  truth  have  yet  dreamed  of. 
There  is  ahvays  some  new  treasure  for  the  hon- 
est mind  to  find,  some  larger  truth  to  appear 
when  the  time  is  ripe  for  it,  some  higher  prin- 
ciple or  definition  to  evolve  itself  and  harmonise 
the  lower  and  material  antagonisms.  It  has  a 
vitality  which  unfolds,  as  each  age  demands, 
new  lights,  new  helps,  new  applications.  I  can- 
not help  thinking  that  in  the  tendency  now  of 
all  earnest  thinkers  to  return  to  the  simple 
creeds  of  the  first  age,  the  creeds  which  en- 
shrine the  simple  divine  facts  of  Christ's  life,  we 
have  the  most  cheering  sign  of  growth,  of  giv- 
ing way  to  the  richer  life,  the  fresher  meanings 
which  are  coming — the  springtime  of  a  better, 
broader,  sunnier  day.  Was  not  St.  Paul  think- 
ing forward  to  such  times  of  riper,  broader 
knowledge  when,  magnifying  the  riches  of 
God's  grace,  he  declares  this  to  be  the  divine 
purpose,  "  that  in  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness 
of  times  He  might  gather  together  in  one  all 
things  in  Christ,  both  which  are  in  heaven,  and 
which  are  on  earth;  even  in  Him"?  H^ere  is 
the  very  suggestion  of  that  unity  towards  which 
the  scientific,  the  social,  and  the  religious 
thought  of  the  age  is  tending. 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH.  29 

The  Christian  Church  has  been  slow  to  real- 
ise that  there  must  be  unsettlings  and  changes 
and  new  definitions  in  the  progress  of  a  living 
truth.  The  Church  has  walked  with  Christ  like 
the  disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  whose 
"  eyes  were  holden  that  they  should  not  know 
Him."  They  were  sad  and  hopeless  because 
the  tomb  had  been  found  empty,  and  they 
could  not  solve  the  mystery  of  the  missing  body 
of  their  Lord.  They  had  not  understood  the 
full  meaning  of  that  divine  life  and  the  power 
of  His  resurrection.  "  O  foolish  men,"  He  ex- 
claims, "  and  slow  of  heart  to  beheve  all  that 
the  prophets  have  spoken ! "  The  larger,  spirit- 
ual meaning  of  His  life  dawned  upon  them  as 
He  interpreted  to  them  the  Scriptures,  and  in 
the  breaking  of  bread  they  knew  Him.  The 
story  of  the  Church  in  its  movement  down 
through  the  ages  has  been  Hke  that.  Minds 
have  been  holden  so  that  the  full  meaning  of 
His  life  from  the  dead  has  been  only  partially 
perceived.  He  has  been  looked  for  in  the  tomb 
rather  than  in  the  open  day ;  and  yet  many 
hearts  have  burned  within  them,  not  knowing 
Him  as  He  spake  with  them  by  the  v/ay.  God 
had  His  own  v/ise  purpose  in  keeping  back  the 


30 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH. 


liberation  of  the  mind  until  the  hour  came.  The 
hour  came  when  the  art  of  printing  made  it 
possible  for  the  spirit  and  truth  to  loose  minds 
from  the  wintry  bondage  of  ecclesiastical  des- 
potism. That  wintry  time  conserved  princi- 
ples and  warmed  into  life  a  learning  which  burst 
the  icy  fetters  when  the  time  was  ripe.  The  prog- 
ress of  Christianity,  as  it  strove  with  the  igno- 
rance and  earthliness  of  men,  necessarily  created 
antagonisms.  They  were  like  the  mists  which 
writhed  and  tossed  upon  the  earth  when  God  said, 
"Let  there  be  light:  and  there  was  light."  There 
were  spectres  of  heresy  and  error  which  in  the 
dim  light  seemed  to  be  monstrous  shapes,  but 
which  were  dissolved  away  under  the  advanc- 
ing day.  It  is  the  glory  of  this  age  of  free  and 
daring  thought  that  Christianity  is  open  to  in- 
vestigation, its  pure  springs  uncovered,  barriers 
of  prejudice  broken  down,  and  truth  searched 
for  with  a  clearer  vision  than  ever  before. 

The  definite  thought  towards  which  I  have 
been  travelling  through  these  very  general  sug- 
gestions is  that  the  attitude  of  the  Christian, 
in  our  day  of  free  and  much  earnest  thought, 
should  be  that  of  looking  always  for  the  higher, 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH. 


broader  truth  which  may  reconcile  antagonisms. 
In  this  elder  age,  with  nineteen  centuries  of 
history  behind  us,  it  should  not  be  possible  for 
the  hating  antagonism  which  marked  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Jew  and  the  Samaritan  to  re- 
peat itself.  I  am  not  thinking  only  of  the 
differences  which  separate  the  various  religious 
bodies  within  the  Church  of  Christ.  They  are 
practically  inconvenient ;  they  seem  to  create 
much  friction  and  waste ;  but  they  are  not  seri- 
ous. In  the  moral  as  in  the  physical  world 
diversity  of  form  is  the  natural  and  necessary 
expression  of  exuberance  of  life.  The  incoming 
of  a  larger  sense  and  realisation  of  that  spirit- 
ual brotherhood  which  is  the  fundamental  order 
of  Christ's  appointment  is  already  beginning  to 
submerge  our  minor  differences  and  lift  us  up 
to  a  better  understanding.  I  am  thinking  of 
the  differences  between  the  Christian  and  all 
honest  thinkers  who  are  moving  towards  God 
through  nature,  through  other  religious  systems, 
or  through  the  unseen  mysteries  of  the  spirit 
itself. 

As  Christians  we  hold  to  the  truth,  as  the 
irut/i  is  in  Jesus.     This  is  our  faith  in  which  we 


32 


THE  RECONCILING   TRUTH. 


stand,  our  "  anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and 
steadfast,  and  which  entereth  into  that  within 
the  veil."  There  can  be  no  weak  compromising, 
if  we  are  really  rooted  and  grounded  in  Christ, 
with  that  which  actually  contradicts  this  truth. 
But  the  truth  in  Him,  in  His  divine  person  and 
word,  must  necessarily  be  in  harmony  with  all 
other  truth  everywhere ;  otherwise  it  is  not 
God's  truth.  No  sound  has  yet  reached  us  out 
of  the  realms  of  absolute  truth  v^^hich  proves  the 
hidden  wasdom  of  Christ  to  be  a  false  note 
among  the  eternal  harmonies, — an  errant  dis- 
cord. Science  itself  in  some  of  its  best  thinkers 
sees  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  the  "  summit  and 
crown  of  a  series  of  organic  developments." 
The  habit  of  looking  always  for  the  harmonis- 
ing element  among  all  the  discords  of  opposing 
sects,  systems,  and  philosophies  lifts  us  above 
the  entanglements  of  mere  prejudice,  and  makes 
us  receptive  towards  the  larger  truth  when  it 
comes.  We  are  helping,  not  obstructing,  if  our 
minds  are  in  the  great  movement  towards  God. 
The  differences  which  exist  among  all  seekers 
after  God,  whether  within  or  without  the  Church 
of  Christ,  have  their  origin  in  this  fact:  "We 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH.  33 

know  in  part :  but  when  that  which  is  perfect  is 
come,  then  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done 
away."  No  one  can  study  the  New  Testament 
and  fail  to  perceive  that  there  are  meanings 
within  meanings.  Our  Lord  certainly  looked 
far  on  through  a  long  vista  of  hazy  distances 
when  He  said  to  His  disciples  :  "  I  have  yet  many 
things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them 
now.  Howbeit  when  He,  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
is  come,  He  shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth," 
If  this  be  so,  why  should  we  not  be  living  and 
thinking  always  with  our  faces  towards  the 
dawn,  always  listening  for  the  voice  which  shall 
say  :  "  Neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jeru- 
salem, shall  men  worship  the  Father,  .  .  .  But 
.  .  .  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth"? 

When  the  disciples  returned  from  the  village 
where  they  had  been  to  buy  food,  they  mar- 
velled that  He  was  speaking  with  a  woman. 
It  was  not  only  unusual  for  a  Jewish  rabbi  to 
talk  to  a  woman,  but  in  this  case  there  was  an 
added  shock  to  their  prejudices  in  the  fact  that 
she  was  a  Samaritan  woman.  It  was  a  shock 
kindred  to  that  which  a  mind  intrenched  in  its 


34 


THE  RECONCILING   TRUTH. 


own  beliefs  experiences,  when  the  more  daring 
Christian  thinker,  escaping  from  his  prejudices, 
looks  fairly  at  other  systems  than  his  own, 
and  considers  what  of  truth  or  good  there  may 
be  in  them,  or  how  they  may  be  brought  into 
unity  with  the  larger  truth  which  he  holds.  Christ 
had  nothing  to  learn  from  the  woman,  but  He 
did  not  antagonise.  He  found  soil  ready  and 
less  encumbered  with  pharisaic  and  traditional 
prejudices  than  among  His  own  people.  He  was 
conscious  of  a  harmony  in  the  true  spiritual  idea 
of  worship,  and  led  her  mind  up  to  it.  Paul 
followed  his  Lord's  example.  When  preaching 
to  the  Athenians  he  did  not  denounce  their 
idolatry,  though  his  spirit  was  provoked  within 
him  as  he  beheld  the  city  full  of  idols.  He  took 
for  his  text  the  inscription  upon  one  of  their 
altars,  "  To  an  unknown  God,"  and  declared : 
"  What,  therefore,  ye  worship  in  ignorance,  this 
set  I  forth  unto  you." 

If  any  one  supposes  that  such  an  attitude  as 
this  is  only  a  convenient  way  of  accommodating 
ourselves  to  views  which  undermine  our  own 
belief,  let  him  look  at  Christ's  words  to  the 
Samaritan  woman,  and  let  him  find  their  ulti- 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH.  35 

mate  limitation  if  he  can:  "God  is  a  Spirit: 
and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth  "  ;  "  for  the  Father  seeketh 
such  to  worship  Him."  I  only  point  to  the 
words  as  the  cUmax  of  the  whole  subject,  not 
attempting  an  exposition  of  them.  Think  what 
infinite  possibilities  of  spiritual  experience  lie 
between  these  two  ideas — the  worshipper  seek- 
ing Him  in  spirit,  and  the  Father  seeking  the 
worshipping  spirit.  Think  what  truth  inclusive 
of  all  conceivable  spiritual  development  is  here. 
Let  the  restless  minds  of  men  search  the  old 
Bibles  and  the  new  as  they  may, —  let  them 
come  from  the  East  and  the  West,  and  the 
North  and  the  South,  eager  voyagers  upon  an 
unknown  sea,  looking  for  the  "  land  which  is 
very  far  off," — I  trust  the  Christ  still.  He  opens 
boundless  horizons  before  me.  My  fellow- voy- 
agers can  show  me  no  diviner  possibilities  than 
are  enclosed  within  His  promise.  When  I  was 
a  young  man  fresh  from  the  seminary  I  thought 
that  I  had  almost  exhausted  the  meaning  of  these 
words  of  Christ  when  I  showed  their  application 
to  the  worship  of  our  lips  In  public  and  In  pri- 
vate.    I   gathered   a   few  drops   in   the   palm 


36  THH  RECONCILING   TRUTH. 

of  my  hand,  and  fancied  I  had  emptied  the 
ocean.  Now  I  see  that  there  are  infinite  depths 
of  meaning  in  them,  reaching  to  the  remotest 
possibilities  of  the  everlasting  life  beyond  time. 
"  God  is  Spirit,"  and  in  spirit — that  is,  in  our 
spirits — we  must  worship  Him.  Truth  is  the  way 
that  leads  to  Him.  In  spirit  by  way  of  truth  we 
look  for  Him  wherever  He  may  reveal  Himself. 
Nature  leads  us  far  on  into  the  truth  of  God. 
We  follow  gladly,  and  rejoice  with  the  reverent 
student  in  the  ever-widening  vistas  which  are 
opening  into  the  unknown.  Where  the  natu- 
ralist can  no  longer  find  his  way,  we  take  the 
hand  of  Christ,  and  looking  into  His  face,  see 
the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
there.  While  we  are  in  the  fiesh  we  cannot 
understand  God  otherwise  than  through  the 
conditions  and  limitations  of  the  flesh ;  but  we 
are  not  to  rest  in  the  flesh,  or  in  nature,  or  mere 
form,  or  anything  outside  of  us.  The  Samari- 
tan woman  did  not  appreciate  His  lofty  words ; 
she  only  answered  humbly  :  "  I  know  that  Mes- 
sias  Cometh :  when  He  is  come,  He  will  tell 
us  all  things."  Jesus  replied:  "I  that  speak 
unto  thee  am  He."     He  was  the  guide  by  whom 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH.  37 

might  be  reached  those  distant  heights  which 
seemed  to  her  so  far  up  in  the  clouds.  We  know 
Him  no  more  after  the  flesh,  but  He  gives  us 
in  spirit  a  new  and  definite  conception  of  God. 
He  is  the  Word,  expressing  or  interpreting  God 
to  us.  The  idea  of  personaHty  in  God  whicli 
Christ  gives  does  not  hmit;  it  only  saves  us 
from  indefiniteness.  That  personality  is  Father- 
hood. This  is  a  figure  of  speech  drawn  from 
our  human  relations.  We  could  not  understand 
love  in  God,  or  feel  it  near  to  our  spirits,  other- 
wise than  through  the  human  forms  in  which  it 
is  feebly  shadowed  forth.  The  limitation  of 
love  is  in  these,  but  through  them  we  may 
rise  to  the  largest  possible  conception  of  love 
as  a  spiritual  reality  in  the  relation  of  God  to 
our  spirits.  The  Jews  were  taught  the  unity 
and  holiness  of  God  by  forms  suited  to  the 
childhood  of  the  race.  He  was  veiled  within 
the  holy  of  holies,  and  approached  only  through 
sacrifice  and  priest  and  high  priest.  In  Christ 
He  comes  near  as  the  Father,  seeking  the  spirit 
to  draw  it  out  iii  a  spiritual  and  universal  wor- 
ship. Our  spirits  must  needs  think  of  God  and 
realise  Him  in  word-forms,  which  are  the  best 


38  THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH. 

possible  until  word-forms  yield  to  the  develop- 
ments of  a  higher  state  of  being,  and  we  no 
longer  see  "  through  a  glass,  darkly,"  but  "  face 
to  face." 

Why,  then,  should  we  not  trust  Christ  for  all 
that  He  reveals  to  us  of  God,  and  let  the  Father 
of  our  spirits,  seeking  the  true  worshippers,  find 
us —  find  us  in  our  spirits  ?  Why  should  we  not 
look  for  Him,  where  only  He  can  be  known  in 
His  fulness,  within  the  temple  of  our  body,  in 
the  sanctuary  of  our  being,  the  place  where  the 
real  self  hides  away  and  weeps,  perhaps,  over 
the  good  that  it  would  and  does  not,  and  the 
evil  that  it  would  not  and  yet  does?  Keeping 
ourselves  under  the  guidance  of  the  divine  Spirit, 
who  is  made  known  to  us  through  Christ,  we 
may  live  superior  to  the  changes  and  unsettlings 
of  the  present.  Deep  shadows  may  rest  upon 
the  valleys,  and  mists  veil  the  distant  mountain- 
tops  ;  but  we  shall  be  conscious  of  the  larger 
light  which  is  over  all,  and  shall  be  able  to  rec- 
oncile the  mists  and  the  shadows  with  the  coming 
day.  In  our  first  feeble  vision  of  Christ  we  are 
like  the  blind  men  to  whom  He  restored  sight. 
They  saw  men  as  trees  walking.     There  are 


THE  RECONCILING    TRUTH.  39 


minds  which  never  grow  out  of  such  feebleness 
of  vision.  They  are  fixed  in  tlieir  first  impres- 
sions. They  v;ill  not  see  be3^ond  that  which  in 
education  or  otherwise  they  have  received.  If 
others  insist  and  the  opinion  spreads  widely 
that  men  are  not  trees  vv'alk-ing,  their  world  is 
out  of  order;  all  seems  lost.  The  growing  vi- 
sion, always  keeping  itself  in  the  light  of  Christ, 
sees  that  the  confused  forms  of  moving  thought 
are  men  advancing  into  the  light,  working  to- 
wards a  unity  which  shall  be  revealed  in  the  ful- 
ness of  time.  St.  Paul  saw  the  unfolding  cycles 
of  our  destiny  widening  ever  towards  a  spiritual 
consummation,  in  that  chapter  of  the  resurrec- 
tion which  v/e  read  over  our  dead,  where  his 
thought  travels  on  from  Christ  the  first-fruits  to 
those  who  are  Christ's  at  His  coming ;  and  "  then 
cometh  the  end,  when  He  shall  have  delivered 
up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father  "  ;  and 
then  "shall  the  Son  also  Himself  be  subject 
unto  Him  that  put  all  things  under  Him,  that 
God  may  be  all  in  all." 


III. 
©oti  SimageD  in  i^uman 


III. 

GOD    IMAGED    IN    HUMAN 
RELATIONSHIPS. 

If  ye  the?i,  lacing  evil,  know  /low  to  give  good  gifts 
unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father 
%uhich  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask 
Him? — St.  Matthew  vii.  ii. 

I  THINK  life  would  be  very  different  to  us 
if  we  could  give  vivid  reality  in  our  minds 
to  the  term  "  Father  "  as  applied  to  God.  Do 
we  not  commonly  think  of  it  as  a  figure  of 
speech,  pleasant  in  its  suggestions,  but  a  mere 
accommodation,  after  all,  to  our  human  weak- 
ness? It  is  a  generic  term  including  mother- 
hood and  the  mother  heart,  and  indeed  all  the 
pure  affections  which  enter  into  the  parental 
relations.  These  affections  are,  as  we  all  know, 
the  purest  elements  in  our  present  life.  They 
make  the  bitter  waters  sweet.  They  constitute 
the  family  and  the  home.     No  words  are  needed 

43 


44    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUM/IN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

to  tell  what  they  are,  or  what  the  world  would 
be  without  them.  That  distinguished  senator 
who  for  long  years,  it  is  said,  carried  close  to  his 
heart  a  little  shoe,  the  memento  of  a  dead  child, 
knew  what  a  father's  love  is.  His  heart  beat 
with  a  broader  sympathy,  a  nobler  impulse,  and 
a  diviner  purpose  because  he  knew  it  and  kept 
it  ever  living  within  him.  That  mother  who 
was  found  frozen  to  death  in  the  deep  snow  of 
a  Scotch  glen,  with  her  living  child  clasped 
to  her  breast  and  wrapped  in  the  shawl  which 
she  had  stripped  from  her  own  perishing  body, 
knew  what  a  mother's  love  is,  and  so  did  the 
child  when  it  was  old  enough  to  think,  and  feel 
the  desolation  of  its  loss.  There  is  nothing  in 
all  the  Old  Testament  literature  more  touching 
than  those  words  from  God  in  the  prophecy  of 
Isaiah :  "  As  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth, 
so  will  I  comfort  you  " ;  and  that  was  a  touch 
of  nature  which  keeps  ever  fresh  the  parable  of 
the  prodigal  son,  when,  feeding  with  the  swine, 
"  he  began  to  be  in  want,"  and  said,  "  I  will  arise 
and  go  to  my  father." 

Yes,  the  prodigal  turned  back  from  his  folly 
to  the  father  and  the  father's  house.     How  slow 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 


45 


we  are  to  realise  the  splendour  of  the  truth  con- 
tained in  the  old  familiar  story!  When  we 
"  begin  to  be  in  want,"  when  there  is  no  more  a 
father  or  mother  to  rest  upon,  when  we  stand, 
as  we  must  sooner  or  later,  alone  in  the  universe, 
children  gone  from  us,  bereaved  in  our  affections 
and  sympathies,  realising  the  inconstancy  of  the 
present  and  shrinking  from  the  chill  mystery  of 
death,  then  we  say  within  ourselves :  "  God 
cannot  feel  towards  us  as  we  have  felt  towards 
our  children,  nor  may  we  dare  to  feel  towards 
Him  as  our  children  have  felt  towards  us. 
No;  He  is  Spirit — far  above  us,  infinitely  for- 
eign to  our  sphere.  How  can  we  presume  to 
think  that  He  is  anything  like  father  or  mother 
as  we  may  have  known  them  in  this  world!" 

Why  not?  I  ask.  The  father  and  mother 
love  is  imperfect,  being  limited  by  sin  and  ig- 
norance ;  therefore  our  Lord  says :  "  If  ye, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  how  much  more  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven!  "  He  reasons  up  from  the 
discriminating  love  of  the  earthly  parent  to  God. 
This  is  the  strong  underlying  thought  which 
seems  to  me  so  wonderfully  suggestive.     He 


46    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

does  not  use  the  human  fatherhood  as  a  mere 
figure  to  illustrate  something  which  may  possi- 
bly exist  in  God  towards  us,  but  which  may  be 
something  very  different  and  far  removed  from 
the  reality  which  is  so  precious  to  us  here.  He 
is  not  using  figures  of  speech;  He  is  arguing. 
His  argument  is  that  if  the  earthly  father  knows 
how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  his  children,  how 
much  more  the  heavenly  Father!  The  earthly 
is  to  Him  the  feeble,  im.perfect  type  of  which 
the  great  original  is  in  God.  If  ye  know  the 
father  and  the  mother  love,  how  much  more 
God,  whose  image  ye  but  feebly  reflect,  and 
from  whom,  as  your  Creator,  that  very  love  is 
derived!  The  human  fatherhood  is  not,  there- 
fore, something  more  than  we  may  ever  really 
dare  to  think  of  as  in  God,  but  something 
infinitely  less  than  the  reality  which  is  in 
Him. 

I  suppose  that  even  the  most  superficial 
readers  know  what  distant  flights  our  science  has 
made  within  a  few  years  by  the  aid  of  spectrum 
analysis.  Reasoning  up  and  out  across  millions 
of  miles  of  space  from  that  rainbow-hued  image 
of  light  which  the  prism  forms,  and  which  is 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS.    47 


known  as  the  spectrum,  men  have  learned 
that  the  sun  and  remoter  worlds  are  akin  to  our 
earth.  Not  many  years  ago  all  that  could  be 
known  of  the  nature  of  the  bodies  that  shine  in 
our  firmament  was  conjecture.  Now  we  know 
by  the  spectrum  that  the  elements  we  are  famil- 
iar with  here,  exist  in  them.  There  is  a  direct 
relation  between  the  prismatic  colours  which  the 
earth  elements  give  and  the  sun  shining  in  his 
strength  ninety-three  millions  of  miles  distant 
from  us.  That  sun  is  no  longer  to  be  thought 
of  as  something  different  from  our  earth  and 
inconceivably  foreign  to  it  in  its  substance. 
The  same  matter  which  we  know  in  its  grosser 
forms  here,  glows  in  a  state  of  fiery,  vaporous 
energy  there. 

It  may  be  said,  using  this  comparison,  that 
the  human  fatherhood  is  the  spectrum  of  God. 
He  is  Father,  not  in  the  material  sense,  but  in 
the  far  broader  and  intenser  spiritual  sense  of 
which  the  material  form  is  only  the  "  outward 
and  visible  sign."  "  How  little,"  say  we,  in  our 
blind  ignorance,  "  can  He  who  is  so  remote  from 
us  understand  our  feeUngs!"  "  Hozv  much 
more,''  said  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  reasoning  up 


48    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

from  the  broken  lights  of  our  human  state  to 
the  infinite  Father. 

If  there  could  be  any  doubt  that  this  was  our 
Lord's  thought,  His  own  life  would  dispel  it ; 
for  was  it  not  in  the  consciousness  of  Sonship  to- 
wards God  that  He  hved,  taught,  suffered,  and 
died?  Was  it  not  the  peculiar  beauty  of  His 
perfect  manhood  that  the  Father  was  alvva3^s 
real  to  Him?  The  reality  was  dawning  upon 
Him  when,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors, 
He  said  to  His  mother,  who  sought  Him  sor- 
rowing: "  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my 
Father's  business?  "  It  came  upon  Him  in  all 
the  fulness  of  its  power  when  that  voice  broke 
from  the  clouds  at  His  baptism,  saying:  "This 
is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 
It  appears  in  the  strong,  brave  words  with 
which  He  met  His  hating  opposers :  "  He  that 
sent  me  is  with  me :  the  Father  hath  not  left 
me  alone ;  for  I  do  always  those  things  that 
please  Him."  "  I  and  the  Father  are  one." 
It  was  comfort  and  strength  to  Him  in  every 
hour  of  trial,  and  when  the  disciples  forsook 
Him  and  fled  this  was  His  consolation :  "  I  am 
not  alone,  because  the  Father  is  with  me."    The 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 


49 


reality  was  so  strong  and  controlling  in  Him 
that  all  other  relations  were  subordinate  to  it. 
When  they  told  Him  that  His  mother  and  His 
brethren  stood  without,  He  stretched  forth  His 
hand  towards  His  disciples,  and  said  :  "  Behold, 
my  mother  and  my  brethren !  For  whosoever 
shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven,  he  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and 
mother."  What  a  lesson  this  for  us  who  live 
our  pitiful,  contracted,  selfish  lives  within  the 
circle  of  mere  natural  affections,  when  we  should 
be  living  out  through  them  into  the  larger  and 
eternal  sympathies  of  the  whole  family  of  God ! 
We  follow  Him  down  into  the  valley  of  the 
shadov/  of  death,  and  through  all  the  gloom  and 
agony  we  hear  the  same  note  sounding: 
"  Father,  .  .  .  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 
"  Father,  forgive  them."  And  then  the  last 
sigh,  breathing  the  words,  "  Father,  into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 

It  may,  however,  be  said  that  Christ  realised 
a  Sonship  towards  God  which  we  may  not  claim, 
because  He  was  essentially  divine.  It  is  true 
that  words  are  used  to  express  His  relation  to 
the  Father  in  the  mysterious  triunity  of  the 


5° 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 


Godhead,  which  mean  something  infinitely  be- 
yond our  understanding.  He  was  "  the  only 
begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth." 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only 
begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  He  hath  declared  Him."  "No  man 
hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  He  that 
came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man 
which  is  in  heaven."  Here  we  have  language 
which  evidently  labours  to  manifest  in  time,  and 
in  terms  of  the  human  relation  of  father  and 
son,  sublime  my.steries  of  a  supernatural  sphere. 
He  has  come  down  from  heaven,  and  is  in 
heaven.  He  is  the  Son  of  God  moving  in 
time,  and  yet  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father. 
He  speaks  out  of  that  eternal  "Now"  which 
cannot  be  expressed  in  time  except  by  a  con- 
fusion of  tenses  which  is  strange  to  us. 

But  the  fact  remains  that  He  does  choose  the 
relation  of  Father  and  Son  to  express  His  own 
relation  to  the  unseen  God.  There  is  some- 
thing in  that  relation,  therefore,  which  is  the 
type  of  the  mystery  veiled  in  the  Godhead. 
He  draws  our  minds  up  from  it  to  the  glory 
which   He  had  with  the   Father   (always  the 


GOD  IMAGUD  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS.    51 


Father)  before  the  world  was.  When,  there- 
fore, He  tells  us  to  take  this  same  human  rela- 
tion, and  think  up  from  it  to  the  "  how  much 
more  "  of  Fatherhood  in  God  towards  us,  He 
certainly  means  that  the  sense  of  God  as  our 
heavenly  Father  should  be  as  intensely  real  to 
us  as  it  was  to  Him. 

It  was,  indeed,  for  the  very  purpose  of  warm- 
ing into  life  this  dormant  sensibility,  and  bring- 
ing us  back  into  the  reality  of  a  lost  sonship, 
that  He  took  upon  Him  our  nature  and  was 
made  in  the  likeness  of  men.  Paul  defines  the 
gospel  in  one  brief  but  exhaustive  sentence : 
"  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself."  In  Christ  God  reconciles  Himself 
unto  the  world  through  the  perfect  obedience 
of  His  Son  even  unto  death ;  and  the  world  is 
reconciled  unto  God  because  in  Christ  He  may 
be  known  as  really  the  "  Father  of  our  spirits," 
the  Lord  God,  "  full  of  compassion,  and  gra- 
cious, slow  to  anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy 
and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiv- 
ing iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin,  and  that 
will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty." 

The  world  needed  reconciling ;  for  the  world. 


52    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

through  a  sense  of  sin  and  the  ills  that  sin  had 
brought  v/ith  it,  nursed  hard  thoughts  of  God. 
We  all  of  us,  in  our  world  of  to-day,  need  rec- 
onciling; for  the  face  of  things  as  we  see  it  is 
stem  and  even  cruel.  Conditions  and  circum- 
stances environ  us  which  often  seem  to  contra- 
dict the  thought  of  any  love  outside  of  the 
perishing  relations  in  which  we  stand.  God  in 
Christ  reconciles,  because  one  long  look  of  faith 
at  Him  shows  that  a  man  may  be  a  son  of  God 
in  all  the  attributes  which  we  may  justly  look 
for  in  one  claiming  to  be  that,  and  yet  suffer 
even  to  the  shame  of  the  cross  and  the  cry  in 
the  darkness,"  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou 
forsaken  me  ?  "  That  He  should  have  consented 
to  suffer,  permitting  evil  to  spend  itself  upon 
Him  in  order  that  we  might  be  brought  back 
to  the  realisation  of  God  as  our  Father,  is  the 
truth  which  must  touch  our  hearts  and  con- 
sciences as  no  other  manifestation  possibly 
could.  This  is  the  real  meaning  of  His  hfe  for 
us.  It  could  not  have  touched  us  had  He  been 
exempt  from  the  pains  which  oppress  us.  He 
was  made  our  perfect  Saviour  through  suffering. 
He  was  "declared,"  said  Paul,  "  to  be  the  Son 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS.    53 

of  God  with  i^ower,  ...  by  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead."  The  supreme  credential  of 
His  claim  to  be  our  Redeemer,  and  the  supreme 
fact  which  makes  Him  potent  to  win  human 
hearts,  is  the  triumph  through  and  over  sin,  the 
cross,  and  the  grave. 

Now  if  it  is  possible  for  us,  through  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  to  be  born  anew  into  a  realisation 
of  sonship  with  God,  our  human  relations  ap- 
pear in  quite  new  lights ;  our  point  of  view  is 
changed.  Love  and  life  are  as  essentially 
wedded  in  our  human  experience  as  light  and 
warmth.  Deride  as  we  may  the  sentimentali- 
ties of  poet  and  romancer,  love  moves  the  world 
as  truly  as  the  sun  is  the  source  of  every  form 
of  energy  on  the  earth.  We  have  striking  evi- 
dence in  the  novels  which  flood  society,  and  for 
which  there  seems  to  be  a  more  unquenchable 
thirst  than  for  any  other  kind  of  literature.  But 
the  forms  of  love  which  youth  idealises,  which 
marriage  sanctifies,  which  are  beautiful  in 
motherhood,  and  the  springs  of  purest  joy  in 
the  relation  of  brother  and  sister,  and  friend 
with  friend,  are  fading  forms  at  best.  Our 
habit  is  to  rest  in  them  as  the  only  fountains 


54 


COD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 


which  can  satisfy  our  thirst.  The  springs  dry 
up.  The  ideals  shrivel  into  very  weak,  homely 
flesh  and  blood.  The  inevitable  death  breaks 
up  the  forms,  and  we  are  not  satisfied.  We 
are  like  children  who.  see  only  the  pretty  colours 
of  the  spectrum,  and  nothing  of  the  worlds  be- 
yond which  they  interpret.  The  man  who 
thinks,  translates  the  prismatic  hues  and  proves 
the  kinship  of  his  earth  with  other  worlds  and 
with  the  blazing  sun  which  his  eyes  unshielded 
cannot  look  upon. 

It  is  from  this  earthly  habit  of  seeing  only 
the  form,  that  Christ  by  His  manifestation  of 
God  the  Father  would  redeem  us.  This  is  the 
meaning  of  words  which  may  have  seemed  harsh 
to  you  :  "  If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not 
his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children, 
and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  hfe 
also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  He  does  not, 
of  course,  mean  hate  in  the  personal,  malignant 
sense  which  we  associate  with  the  word.  His 
own  example  and  the  whole  spirit  of  His  Hfe 
and  teaching  forbid  the  thought.  He  uses  an 
intense  word  to  make  strong  by  contrast  the 
ardour  of  the  love  which  we  owe  to  Him,  the 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 


55 


manifested  God,  He  deepens  the  shadow,  as 
the  artist  does,  to  bring  out  and  make  vivid  the 
high  hghts.  He  simply  means  that  which  He 
expressly  states  in  another  place :  "  He  that 
loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me  is  not 
worthy  of  me."  But  I  prefer  the  intenser  form 
of  the  saying,  because  it  makes  so  vivid  the 
claims  of  the  higher  love.  There  is  always  an 
element  of  hate  in  fervent  love.  Jealousy  is  the 
form  it  takes.  "  The  Lord  our  God  is  a  jealous 
God,"  and  therefore  commands,  "  Thou  shalt 
have  none  other  gods  beside  me."  Jealousy  is 
the  shadow  of  love.  The  fervency  of  the  love  is 
measured  by  the  depth  of  the  shadow.  Christ 
taught  that  a  man  shall  leave  his  father  and 
mother  and  cleave  unto  his  wife.  Here  is  the 
same  thought  on  the  earthly  plane.  Carry  it 
up  to  the  Father  of  our  spirits  who  is  seeking 
us  through  all  the  earth-forms,  and  the  meaning 
is  that  there  shall  be  in  us  such  an  ardour  of  love 
towards  Him  kindled  by  the  sense  of  His  love 
for  us  that  we  shall  be  jealous  of  every  human 
relation  which  would  keep  us  back  from  the 
obedience  which  His  love  in  us  compels.  I 
have  been  reading  the  wonderful  story  of  Nan- 


56    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

sen's  three  years  in  the  arctic  ice.  He  left  the 
wife  and  child  to  whom  he  was  devoted,  and 
risked  his  life  in  that  daring  journey.  He  did 
not  love  his  wife  less  because  the  ambition  to 
know  drove  him  out  into  that  perilous  polar 
waste.  He  brought  back  to  her  a  fame  in 
which  she  too  is  hfted  up  and  immortalised. 
We  do  not  love  in  our  human  relations  less 
because  we  rise  through  them  into  the  faith  of 
God's  love  in  Jesus  Christ.  We  only  bring 
back  to  them  immortality. 

Men  are  constantly  sacrificing  their  affections 
to  gratify  a  passion  for  adventure  or  the  desire 
for  fame.  Shall  it  be  counted  strange  that  a 
man,  in  seeking  to  know  God,  should  have  to 
renounce  every  earthly  tie  which  might  restrain 
him?  Our  human  relations  are  glorified  in  the 
light  of  that  knowledge.  We  see  them  no 
longer  as  ends  of  being,  but  as  buds  cradling 
within  themselves  the  promise  of  a  larger  life  to 
come.  We  love  wisely,  because  we  see  that  the 
breaking  of  the  bud  must  precede  the  blooming 
of  the  flower.  We  love  purely,  because  no 
gross  love  can  survive  in  the  upper  atmosphere 
of  a  spiritual  mind.  All  our  affections  are  in- 
tensified  and   purified    because   lifted   up   into 


COD  IMAGED  IN  HUM/IN  RELATIONSHIPS. 


57 


God,  where  every  pure  love  shares  in  the 
"  how  much  more  "  of  His  love  as  compared 
with  the  evil  and  the  littleness  of  our  earthly 
relations. 

I  cannot  conclude  without  calling  your  atten- 
tion to  the  idea  of  discrimination  which  we  find 
in  our  Lord's  words :  "  If  ye,  being  evil,  know 
how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children" 
(that  is,  know  how  to  discriminate),  "  how 
much  more  your  Father  in  heaven?"  Do  we 
not  have  to  train  our  children,  by  the  very 
compulsion  of  our  love,  in  the  way  of  the  cross? 
Do  we  not  have  to  deny  them  much  that  they 
would  like  because  our  mature  experience 
knows  what  is  best  for  them?  Children's  trials 
in  small  matters  are  very  real  and  cost  them 
many  tears.  We  children  of  a  larger  growth, 
if  w^e  would  be  the  children  of  our  Father  which 
is  in  heaven,  must  on  every  rational  ground 
expect  a  like  discipline.  We  are  all  prodigal 
sons,  wandering  in  a  far  country,  until  we  turn 
from  the  riotous  living  and  the  husks  and  the 
swine,  and  seek  pardon  in  the  Father's  house. 
Do  not,  however,  suppose  for  a  moment  that 
the  Father's  love  will  or  can  do  you  any  good 
while  you  continue  wilfully  in  riotous  living  or 


58    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

in  that  lower  degree  of  vice,  feeding  with  the 
husks  and  the  swine.  You  must  give  up  your 
own  way  and  come  into  His  way  of  repentance, 
and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  right- 
eousness of  a  spiritual  mind  which  comes  by 
faith,  or  you  can  have  no  part  in  the  endless  joy 
of  the  Father's  house.  "  As  many  as  are  led 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God." 
His  love  is  not  an  indulgent  smile  of  compla- 
cency towards  everything  and  everybody.  It 
is  a  righteous  love,  and  will  "  by  no  means  clear 
the  guilty."  To  be  led  by  the  Spirit  while  we 
are  in  the  flesh,  and  in  a  world  which  constantly 
appeals  to  the  flesh,  means  taking  up  the  cross 
daily. 

A  certain  French  reformer  invented  a  new 
religion  which  he  wished  to  impose  upon  his 
country.  He  called  it  theophilanthropy.  In 
spite  of  his  passionate  endeavours  he  made  but 
little  progress,  and  sought  the  advice  of  Talley- 
rand. "  I  am  not  surprised,"  said  the  shrewd 
statesman,  "  at  the  difficulty  you  experience. 
It  is  no  easy  matter  to  introduce  a  new  religion. 
But  I  will  tell  you  what  I  recommend  you  to 
do.     I  recommend  you  to  be  crucified,  and  to 


GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS.    59 

rise  again  on  the  third  day."  There  was  deeper 
meaning,  perhaps,  than  he  thought  in  his  flip- 
pant words.  No  religion  can  hft  us  to  God  our 
Father  out  of  this  present  sensual,  selfish  world 
which  does  not  involve  a  being  crucified  and 
rising  again.  Paul  expressed  the  same  thought 
when  he  wrote  :  "  Therefore  we  are  buried  with 
Him  by  baptism  into  death :  that  like  as  Christ 
was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the 
Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness 
of  life."  If  we  fuse  away  all  the  accretions  of 
a  dogmatic  theology  from  these  words  we  find 
that  they  contain  simply  the  experience  and 
faith  of  the  child.  He  is  denied  something 
which  seems  very  good  to  him.  He  wipes  away 
his  tears,  and,  submitting  to  the  father's  or  the 
mother's  will,  rises  to  the  better  life  which  their 
love  ordains  for  him, 

I  have  only  suggested  truths  which  hours  and 
volumes  could  not  exhaust.  I  hope  you  have 
caught  something  which  may  help  you.  I  have 
tried  to  show  that,  as  the  scientist  dares  to  rea- 
son out  from  his  spectrum  to  worlds  in  space 
and  to  the  sun  itself,  so  we  may  dare  to  reason 
up  from  our  dearest  human   relations  to  the 


6o    GOD  IMAGED  IN  HUMAN  RELATIONSHIPS. 

"  how  much  more  "  of  "  our  Father  which  is 
in  heaven." 

Have  you  been  living  in  sin,  and  do  you  feel 
the  deep,  unsatisfied  need  of  a  soul  that  has 
been  feeding  on  husks?  Give  effect  to  the 
prodigal's  resolve,  and  arise  and  go  to  your 
Father.  Are  you  sorrowful,  alone,  friends  gone 
or  seemingly  faithless,  old  age  closing  round 
you,  and  death  near?  Oh,  if  your  heart  is  only 
in  its  purpose  true  to  God,  with  what  comfort 
may  you  rest  in  Him  and  feel,  with  Christ,  "  I 
am  not  alone,  for  the  Father  is  with  me  "  !  And 
when  death  comes,  as  come  it  must  to  every  one 
of  us,  what  shall  be  our  refuge  if  it  be  not  in  the 
Father  of  our  spirits?  If  there  is  any  cloud 
between  Him  and  your  spirit,  it  is  an  earth-born 
cloud,  which  may,  in  the  faith  of  His  forgiving 
love  through  a  reconciling  Saviour,  condense 
into  showers  of  fertilising  repentance,  and  leave 
a  clear  sunset  sky  for  the  perfect  repose  of  a  last 
hour.  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit." 


IV. 

Control  front  mit\)\n. 


IV. 
CONTROL   FROM   WITHIN. 

Casting  down  imaginations,  and  every  high  thing  that 
is  exalted  against  the  hwwledge  of  God,  and  bring, 
ing  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ. — 2  Cor.  x.  5. 

I  CAN  imagine  a  condition  of  being  in  which 
spirits  might  know  one  another  at  once, 
without  the  interposition  of  bodies  or  the 
imperfect  medium  of  language.  We  are 
really,  even  the  closest  friends,  very  far  apart 
in  this  world.  There  is  something  sad  in  the 
eager  way  we  look  into  one  another's  faces  and 
listen  to  one  another's  words  in  the  efTort  to 
become  acquainted.  The  real  life  of  every  one 
of  us  is  lived  in  the  silence  of  his  thoughts  — 
thoughts  which  control  him,  it  may  be,  but  which 
never  find  expression  in  words ;  thoughts  which 
he  hides  because  they  might  not  be  understood, 
or  masks  under  fair  words  and  a  correct  deport- 
63 


64  CONTROL  FROM  IVITHIN. 

ment  because  he  would  blush  to  have  them 
known. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  that  Christianity  is  very- 
true  at  least  in  this,  that  it  aims  to  take  hold  of 
the  hidden  life  in  which  we  really  live,  the  life 
of  our  thoughts,  and  so  to  control  us  from  within, 
"  bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the 
obedience  of  Christ." 

I  ask  you  to  consider  with  me  the  relation  of 
this  principle  of  control  from  within  to  the  three 
necessary  elements  of  a  true  manhood  or  woman- 
hood :  overcoming — being — knoiving. 

Overeotning  is  the  first  and  constant  necessity 
which  is  forced  upon  us  when  we  try  to  lead  a 
noble  Hfe.  Temptation  must  be  overcome  and 
sin  cleared  away.  It  is  almost  impossible,  say 
some,  to  live  up  to  the  Christian  standard  of 
right  under  the  pressure  of  competition  in  busi- 
ness, or  to  exercise  self-control  in  view  of  the 
scenes  and  sounds  which  appeal  to  appetite, 
ambition,  and  self-interest.  I  grant  that  it 
means  a  fight  to  keep  pure  in  the  midst  of  an 
ungodly  world ;  but  do  you  know  that  it  is 
scarcely  less  difficult  to  live  a  pure  life  apart 
from  an  ungodly  world?     The  seclusion  of  a 


CONTROL  FROM   IVITHIN. 


65 


hermit's  cell  is  no  protection  against  temptation 
if  a  man  be  temptable,  because  his  real  world  of 
temptation  is  that  which  he  conjures  up  out  of 
the  thoughts  and  imaginations  of  his  own  heart. 
The  power  of  the  pleasures,  profits,  and  prizes 
of  life  to  seduce  into  sin  does  not  reside  so  much 
in  them  as  in  that  which  they  find  in  us.  The 
man  who  yields  to  licentiousness,  to  dishonest 
practices  for  the  sake  of  getting  rich,  or  to 
maxims,  opinions,  or  parties  which  are  opposed 
to  his  honest  convictions  for  the  sake  of  place  or 
popularity,  has  prepared  himself  to  yield.  The 
debasing  habit,  act,  pursuit,  or  whatever  it  may 
be,  was  entertained  in  thought  before  it  took 
form  in  outward  fact.  Such  is  the  invariable 
course  of  the  yielding  and  sinking  of  a  man's 
moral  nature  until  he  is  completely  under  the 
dominion  of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil. 
He  familiarises  himself  with  the  thought  of  sin. 
The  thought  becomes  an  imagination  in  which 
he  revels  long  before  he  would  deem  himself 
capable  of  a  corresponding  act.  Opportunity 
comes,  and  there  is  no  power  of  resistance.  The 
forces  without  gain  an  easy  victory  because  the 
fortress  is  full  of  traitors  within.     If  you  consider 


66  CONTROL  FROM  IVITHIN. 

carefully  the  workings  of  your  own  heart,  you 
will  see  that  the  temptations  which  appeal  to 
your  senses  begin  to  get  power  over  you  when 
you  give  thought  to  them.  Here,  then,  the 
battle  with  sin  must  begin.  It  is  comparatively 
easy  to  overcome  if  you  meet  and  exterminate 
temptation  in  its  first  suggestions.  It  will  not 
get  into  you.  It  will  have  no  chance  to  gain  a 
hearing.  The  conscience,  like  a  polished  mirror, 
will  be  kept  so  sensitive  that  the  least  breathingof 
that  which  is  bad  will  betray  itself.  The  men  who 
talk,  as  some  do  nowadays,  about  the  impossi- 
bility of  self-control,  the  necessity  of  a  certain 
amount  of  license,  and  allowance  for  varieties  of 
temperament  and  circumstance,  assume  that  the 
strength  of  temptation  is  altogether  in  that 
which  appeals  to  us  from  the  outside.  They 
overlook  entirely  the  fact  that  they  would  not 
be  liable  to  be  set  on  fire  by  it  if  they  did  not 
habitually  store  up  inflammable  material  within 
themselves.  In  fact,  wc  often  create  our  own 
temptations  by  putting  ourselves  in  the  way  of 
scenes  and  persons  and  books  which  will  gratify 
cherished  desires.  We  live  so  powerfully  in  the 
imagination  of  certain  events  which  might  be 


CONTROL   FROM   WITHIN.  67 

that  we  try  in  ways  that  we  will  not  admit  to 
ourselves  to  bring  them  around  to  us.  We  slyly 
encourage  opportunities,  and  then,  when  we 
have  fallen  into  temptation,  make  ourselves  be- 
lieve that  we  have  been  the  victims  of  circum- 
stance. Once  tamper  with  the  thought,  and 
begin  to  parley  with  it  and  then  to  justify  that 
which  it  proposes  to  you,  and  you  are  lost.  The 
door  is  open,  and  the  whole  dark  train  of  ima- 
ginings and  self-deceits  and  passions  and  evil- 
doings  is  pressing  in  behind. 

"  Keep  thy  heart,"  therefore,  "  with  all  dili- 
gence; for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life."  It 
is  a  garden  in  which  may  be  made  to  grow, 
under  the  sunny  influence  of  Christ's  love  and 
grace,  plants  which  would  make  your  whole  life 
fragrant  and  beautiful  and  fruitful  in  blessing  to 
the  world ;  but  if  we  suffer  thoughts  which  de- 
file to  take  root,  there  is  no  hope  for  our  garden. 
They  are  weeds  which  are  certain  to  overrun 
and  destroy.  It  is  not  enough  to  keep  them 
down  out  of  sight.  They  must  not  be  allowed 
to  germinate.  The  soil  must  be  kept  clear  of 
them.  To  cut  off  their  flowering  on  the 
surface   simply  strengthens   and    makes  them 


68  CONTROL  FROM  (VITHIN. 

more  deadly  underneath.  They  will  certainly 
take  possession  and  grow  rank  and  uncontrol- 
lable if  we  do  not  keep  them  rooted  out. 

But  there  is  something  more  than  overcoming 
sin  or  not  doing  wrong.  That  is  only  the  nega- 
tive side  of  a  true  life.  See  how  the  principle 
of  bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  is  re- 
lated to  our  second  point — being.  Being  is 
character.  Character  is  that  which  a  man  really 
is  in  the  complexion  and  fibre  of  his  being,  and 
not  merely  that  which  he  seems  to  be.  How 
are  we  to  attain  or  form  soundness  of  being,  so 
that  men  may  trust  us  and  our  personality  be 
solid  oak  in  the  social  structure?  It  is  com- 
monly supposed  that  if  a  man  aims  to  conform 
himself  strictly  to  the  received  standards  of 
right,  and  makes  it  his  habit  to  be  just  and  true 
in  all  his  dealings  and  faithful  to  his  promises, 
he  will  be  such  a  character.  I  should  say  that 
he  might  seem  to  be,  but  the  reality  of  that 
seeming  would  depend  upon  something  more 
than  his  words  and  actions.  How  often  has  it 
happened  that  men  trusted  in  a  community, 
and  rooted  firmly  in  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  all  who  knew  them,  have  suddenly  fallen 


CONTROL  FROM  IVITHIN.  69 

with  a  crash,  as  we  have  heard  great  forest-trees 
fall  in  the  calm  night !  The  world  thought  that 
they  were  men  of  sound  character;  they  seemed 
to  be  secure  in  their  pride  of  place ;  but  they 
fell  as  the  old  tree  of  the  forest  falls — because 
it  is  corrupt  at  the  core.  While  they  were 
forming  around  themselves  a  reputation  for 
integrity,  they  were  not  taking  care  of  their 
thoughts.  They  had  rules  for  their  words  and 
actions,  but  they  had  no  law  for  their  minds. 
The  language  of  St.  Paul  is  very  suggestive. 
It  implies  that  the  thoughts  are  habitually  law- 
less and  impatient  of  control.  They  must  be 
taken  prisoners  by  force  of  will  and  compelled 
(as  the  original  has  it)  into  a  "  hstening  submis- 
sion to  Christ."  Every  man  who  has  any  re- 
gard for  his  interest  and  reputation  takes  care 
of  his  words  and  actions,  but  few  think  of  at- 
tempting to  control  the  wild  rioting  within  them. 
Yet  here  alone  can  the  conquest  be  made  for 
character,  and  a  foundation  be  laid  which  shall 
make  the  whole  building  secure  and  able  to 
survive  even  the  shock  of  the  judgment-day. 
I  cannot  imagine  how  any  rule  could  be  more 
thorough,  and  potent  to  control,  than  that  which 


70 


CONTROL  FROM  ^VITHIN. 


made  St.  Paul  the  brave,  pure  man  he  was,  and 
which  he  calls  "  the  obedience  of  Christ." 
Whatever  you  may  think  intellectually  about 
Jesus  Christ,  you  know  that  in  the  presence  of 
the  very  thought  of  Him  impurity,  deceit,  hate, 
and  selfishness  shrink  like  creatures  of  the  night 
before  the  dawn.  A  mind  surrendered  to  His 
obedience  is  a  mind  surrendered  to  purity,  truth, 
and  love.  The  character  which  in  loyalty  to 
such  a  Master  repels  every  thought  which  is  at 
war  with  these,  necessarily  purifies  itself.  Sup- 
pose you  made  it  your  practice  never  to  do  or 
say  anything  which  you  would  blush  to  have 
your  mother  or  sister  or  dearest  friend  see  or 
hear.  Your  life  would  be  tolerably  correct 
outwardly.  But  suppose  you  went  further,  and 
made  it  the  rule  of  your  life  never  to  entertain 
a  thought  which  you  would  be  ashamed  to  have 
them  know.  Do  you  not  see  how  such  a  rule 
would  work  to  keep  your  life  pure  at  its  foun- 
tain? Ah,  we  know  that  under  the  pleasing 
manners  which  many  a  young  man  assumes  in 
the  presence  of  pure  women  there  is  a  brood  of 
vile  thoughts  and  imaginations.  The  man  is  a 
sham — a  whited   sepulchre.     If  the  restraints 


CONTROL  FROM   IVITHIM. 


71 


which  he  puts  upon  his  behaviour  were  carried 
into  his  thoughts,  if  he  felt  that  the  pure  eyes 
were  upon  him  there,  he  would  begin  to  know 
what  purity  is.  Now  put  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  place  of  mother  or  sister  or  friend,  and 
you  have  the  Christian  rule.  He  asks  you  to 
put  aside  your  reasonings  and  pride  and  preju- 
dices, and  every  high  thing  which  exalts  itself 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  let  Him  rule 
in  your  heart.  He  asks  you  to  make  it  your 
habit  to  bring  every  thought  to  the  test  of  His 
purity,  truth,  and  love.  He  asks  you  to  let  the 
lightning  of  His  indignation  be  felt  against  every 
evil  suggestion  and  foul  imagination.  He  asks 
you  to  honour  your  bodies  as  temples  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  not  merely  to  act,  but  to  think, 
always  as  in  His  pure  and  searching  presence. 
Will  you  say  that  under  such  a  rule  a  man's 
range  of  thought  would  be  restricted  and  his 
mind  become  narrow  ?  Let  the  words  of  St,  Paul 
to  the  Philippians  be  your  answer :  "  Finally, 
brethren,  whatsoev^er  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honourable,  whatsoever  things  are 
just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever 
things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good 


72 


CONTROL  FROM   IVITHIN. 


report;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be 
any  praise,  think  on  these  things :  .  .  .  and  the 
God  of  peace  shall  be  with  you." 

In  speaking  of  the  relation  of  this  principle 
to  being,  we  are  naturally  brought  to  think  of 
its  important  relation  to  knoiving.  It  is  only 
through  this  very  same  path  of  clearing  away 
sin,  or  overcoming,  and  then  seeking  to  be 
sound  or  pure  inwardly,  that  we  can  find  truth. 
The  "  bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  to 
the  obedience  of  Christ,"  which  necessarily 
purifies,  is  the  very  condition  precedent  of  know- 
ing God.  Indeed,  it  is  by  character,  or,  in 
other  words,  by  seeking  to  be  right  before  God, 
that  we  come  to  know  God.  Christianity,  which 
is  the  truth  about  God,  cannot  be  proved,  and 
its  truth  known,  by  any  other  means.  You  are 
disposed,  some  of  you,  perhaps,  to  resent  this 
statement.  You  demand  that  your  reason  should 
be  convinced,  that  the  objections  and  prejudices 
which  block  the  way  should  be  removed,  before 
you  can  in  any  sense  accept  Christ.  You  are 
like  one  shut  up  in  a  dark  room,  who  demands 
to  have  his  reason  convinced  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  sunlight,  and  how  it  is  and  what  it  is, 


CONTROL  FROM  IVITHIN. 


13 


before  he  will  throw  open  the  windows  and  let 
it  come  in.  He  is  withering  in  the  darkness, 
when  by  simply  pushing  back  the  bolts  and 
throwing  open  the  shutters  he  might  feel  all  the 
invigoration  and  know  in  himself  all  the  glory 
of  the  noonday.  There  must  be,  as  St.  Paul 
affirms,  the  "  casting  down  of  reasonings  and 
every  high  thing"  in  your  mind,  "  which  exalts 
itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God."  You  can 
only  begin  to  know,  when  you  begin  to  obey. 
As  the  blessed  sunlight  is  beating  upon  the 
closed  shutters,  so  God  is  ready  to  shine  into 
your  heart.  You  cannot  prove  Him  by  argu- 
ment. You  can  only  know  Him  and  walk  in 
the  light  by  yielding  to  Him — by  letting  Him 
come  in.  "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  God's  will, 
he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of 
God,  or  whether  I  speak  of  myself." 

God's  will  is  not  to  be  looked  for  in  some  law 
outside  of  you.  It  speaks  in  your  consciences. 
If  you  will  but  silence  the  tumult  of  your  noisy 
prejudices,  and  bring  your  thoughts  into  an 
attitude  of  listening  submission,  you  may  know 
from  moment  to  moment  what  God  would  have 
you  do.     All  the  faith  required  of  you  is  to 


74  CONTROL  FROM   IVJTHIN. 

accept  Jesus  Christ  for  what  He  manifestly  is, 
incarnate  love,  purity,  and  truth,  and  let  Him 
be  the  Sovereign  of  your  thoughts.  However 
the  world  may  rave  about  the  Bible,  whatever 
may  be  the  defects  of  our  theologies,  doubt  as 
we  may  much  that  is  said  and  written  and 
claimed  for  Christianity,  that  man  cannot  be 
wrong  who  takes  Jesus  Christ  to  be  a  law  unto 
himself.  If  there  be  nothing  else  certainly  true 
in  all  this  wide  universe,  the  spirit  of  that  Man 
as  it  was  in  Him,  and  in  all  that  it  would  make 
us,  is  truth  to  be  trusted.  Begin  here,  and  in 
bringing  every  thought  to  the  touchstone  of  His 
pure  presence  you  will  purify  yourself,  your 
nature  will  be  spiritualised,  your  perceptions 
will  be  cleared,  "  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ "  will 
begin  to  dawn  upon  you.  I  will  not  attempt 
to  describe  the  experience  further;  I  feel  too 
unworthy;  I  should  seem  to  know  more  of  it 
than  I  do.  But  I  stand  upon  the  shore;  I  see 
how  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  realise  the  calm, 
deep  heaven  of  the  wondrous  beatitude,  "Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart:  for  they  shall  see  God." 
It  is  like  a  mountain  lake  which  I  have  gazed  at 


CONTROL  FROM  IVITHIN.  75 

with  charmed  eyes  in  the  Tyrol.  Majestic  cUffs 
enclose  it  on  every  side  and  are  reflected  in  its 
emerald  depths.  One  seems  to  stand  in  mid- 
air, a  world  of  majesty  above,  and  another  world 
of  softened  majesty  and  infinite  depths  of  azure 
below.  But  when  the  surface  of  that  lake  is 
ruffled  and  its  depths  stirred  by  the  tempest  its 
peculiar  charm  vanishes ;  it  no  longer  reflects 
the  everlasting  hills.  When  our  hearts  are 
swept  by  gusts  of  earthly  passion,  and  turbid 
with  pride  and  lust  and  selfishness,  God  cannot 
be  known.  When  we  cease  our  striving,  and 
yield  our  thoughts  to  the  "  obedience  of  Christ," 
"  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing, keeps  the  heart  and  mind."  God  is 
reflected  in  us ;  "  the  pure  in  heart  .  .  .  see 
God." 

I  have  tried  to  show  you  hov/,  by  "  bringing 
every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ,"  we  may  overcome  sin,  be  pure,  and 
know  God.  I  am  afraid  that  we  who  preach, 
too  often  leave  our  hearers  in  doubt  as  to  where 
and  how  they  are  to  begin  to  believe  in  and 
obey  Jesus  Christ.  They  suppose  that  it  con- 
sists in  believing  in  a  book,  or  obeying  a  set  of 


76  CONTROL  FROM  IVITHIN. 

precepts  contained  in  a  book;  or  they  have  a 
vague  idea  that  it  means  not  to  do  wrong,  or  to 
try  very  hard  to  be  good.  They  think  of  some- 
thing to  be  trusted  or  obeyed  outside  of  them- 
selves or  up  there.  The  simple  truth  is  that  the 
Christ  we  preach  is  to  be  looked  for  in  our 
hearts.  He  is  there,  pressing  upon  us  in  im- 
pulses towards  purity  and  right  and  love.  The 
faith  we  preach  is  a  simple  giving  up  pride  and 
opposition,  and  letting  Him  be  the  one  ruling 
principle  and  passion  of  our  inner  Hfe.  The 
moment  we  let  the  sense  of  His  love  come  in, 
we  are  compelled  by  the  strong  compulsion  of 
a  responsive  love  to  "  bring  every  thought  into 
captivity  "  to  His  will.  Yes ;  and  the  moment 
we  begin  in  the  silence  of  our  souls  to  yield  to 
Him,  under  the  sunny  consciousness  of  His 
great  love,  that  moment  God  begins  to  live 
in  us. 


V. 

Cl^e  note  of  d^oD  in  €lfwt 


V. 

THE   LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

The  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Rom.  viii.  39. 

I  MET  in  my  life  as  a  pastor,  many  years  ago, 
•^  a  man  who  objected  to  the  language  of  the 
General  Thanksgiving :  "  We  bless  Thee  for  our 
creation,  preservation,  and  all  the  blessings  of 
this  life."  He  said  that  he  was  not  thankful  for 
his  creation — that  it  would  have  been  better  for 
him  if  he  had  never  been  born ;  that  his  preser- 
vation had  been  only  the  prolonging  of  misery ; 
while  the  blessings  of  this  life  consisted  in  pain, 
poverty,  and  loss,  I  told  him  that  if  the  Gen- 
eral Thanksgiving  had  ended  there  I  should 
agree  with  him.  But  it  does  not.  That  which 
makes  life  tolerable,  which  enlarges  our  horizon, 
which  clears  up  the  mystery,  is  contained  in  the 
words  following :  "  Above  all,  for  Thine  inesti- 
mable love  in  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  our 
79 


8o  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  for  the  means  of  grace,  and 
for  the  hope  of  glory."  Now  it  is  of  this  ines- 
timable blessing  I  would  speak  — "  the  love  of 
God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  The 
apostle  means  not  our  love  towards  God,  but 
God's  love  towards  us,  manifested  for  our  salva- 
tion in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  question  of  God's  disposition  towards  us 
can  never  cease  to  be  one  of  importance  to  the 
average  man  and  woman  in  this  world.  Not- 
withstanding the  efforts  of  eccentric  persons  to 
get  the  idea  out  of  the  minds  of  men,  the  idea 
will  remain,  because  we  are  subject.  There  is 
a  power  working  in  and  through  and  over  and 
outside  of  us.  We  are  dependent  upon  it.  We 
cannot  escape  from  its  control.  We  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being  in  it.  There  are  so 
many  evidences  of  an  intelligent  will  manifested 
in  the  working  of  this  power,  that  we  naturally 
give  personality  to  it.  The  spirit  in  us  which 
wills  and  thinks  and  reasons,  reaches  out  instinc- 
tively towards  some  great  Father  of  our  spirits. 
It  finds  a  voice  in  the  words  of  the  creed :  "  I 
believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth." 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST.  8i 

Assuming,  then,  that  there  is  an  almighty- 
Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  what  do  we  know 
of  His  mind  and  purpose  concerning  us  ?  Does 
He  care  anything  at  all  about  us,  or  are  we, 
with  our  sensitive,  conscious  spirits,  only  atoms 
which  He  is  whirling,  crushing,  grinding  in  the 
great  mill  of  some  vast  purpose,  regardless  of 
our  pain  or  pleasure?  Are  we  to  go  whirling 
on  through  endless  cycles,  born  into  responsi- 
bility without  our  consent,  and  carried  on 
whether  we  will  or  not?  The  beautiful  creation 
outside  of  us  does  not  satisfy.  You  cannot 
comfort  suffering,  struggling  men  and  women 
by  pointing  them  to  a  beautiful  sunset.  When 
I  stand  by  the  bedside  of  my  dying  child, 
agonised  by  his  suffering,  which  I  cannot  relieve, 
and  Heaven  sends  no  help,  will  the  flowers 
which  some  friend  sends  comfort  me?  They 
are  but  an  aggravation  of  my  misery.  It  is  as 
if  God  smiled  at  me  in  my  sorrow  and  mocked 
my  helplessness.  He  does  not  touch  me.  The 
earth  has  indeed  been  made  beautiful  to  my 
eyes,  and  is  marvellously  adapted  to  my  physi- 
cal needs,  and  even  ministers  to  my  pleasure ; 
but  I  am  worse  off  than  the  beasts,  for  they 


82  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

chew  the  cud  of  a  present  animal  contentment, 
while  I  see  in  the  fair  creation  something  which 
mocks  me  —  something  which  I  cannot  reach. 
We  feel  with  Jean  Paul  Richter  when  he  said  of 
music:  "Away!  away!  Thou  speakest  to  me  of 
tilings  which  in  all  my  endless  life  I  have  not 
found,  and  shall  not  find."  I  have  no  evidence 
in  nature  that  God  cares  any  more  for  me  and 
my  kind  than  He  does  for  the  grasshopper  or 
the  worm.  Fire,  flood,  tempest,  lightning, 
earthquake,  and  avalanche  are  as  reckless,  ap- 
parently, of  human  life  as  they  are  of  insects 
and  beasts. 

There  is  but  one  revelation  of  the  mind  of 
God  which  can  reach  the  heart  of  man  and 
glorify  his  life.  It  comes  to  us  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  truth  which  shines  out  from 
Him  has  its  fullest  expression  in  St.  John's 
familiar  words :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  to  the  end  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  hfe." 

Now  I  do  not  want  to  argue  anything.  My 
purpose  is  simply  to  set  forth  the  mind  of  God 
as  it  is  expressed  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  show 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST.  83 

how  different  it  is  from  any  other  manifestation 
of  the  invisible ;  how  closely  it  touches  us,  and 
how  powerfully  it  may  affect  us,  if  we  will  but 
yield  to  it. 

And  first,  note  that  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
has  personality.  It  enters  into  our  humanity; 
it  takes  shape  in  history.  "  The  Word  was 
made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us."  "No  man 
hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten 
Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
He  hath  declared  [or  "  interpreted "]  Him." 
If  God  was  ever  to  reveal  Himself  to  man, 
who  in  all  ages  has  groped  after  Him,  what 
more  likely  than  that  He  should  come  directly 
into  our  humanity?  How  should  He  be  under- 
stood otherwise  ?  Men  in  all  ages  have  looked 
for  Him  in  nature  and  clothed  Him  in  terri- 
ble forms.  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing 
incredible  that  He  should  manifest  Himself 
in  the  highest  part  of  His  creation — human 
nature  itself?  Ah,  say  the  sceptics,  but  it  is 
incredible  that  the  infinite  power  Avhich  pervades 
the  universe  should  distinguish  man,  a  mere 
worm  of  the  dust,  above  all  other  creatures — 
that  He  should  particularise  him  and  stoop  to 


84  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

enter  into  our  flesh.  Now  just  here  is  the  fact 
in  which  man's  shame  and  degradation  consist. 
He  has  made  darkness  his  element.  He  was 
worth  caring  for.  There  is  a  spirit  in  him 
which  is  related  to  the  Infinite.  But  man  had 
lost  all  sense  of  the  divine  possibilities  which 
were  his.  This  is  the  terrible  fact  of  our  con- 
dition. This  is  what  constitutes  our  lost  estate. 
Men  scorn  as  a  senseless  theological  dogma  the 
teaching  that  they  are  conceived  and  born  in 
sin,  and  yet  find  in  a  gross  materialism,  which 
credits  nothing  beyond  the  sensual  and  visible, 
their  natural  element.  The  fact  that  they  will 
not  see  that  there  is  a  divine  side  to  them,  that 
they  choose  darkness  and  hug  themselves  in  it 
and  love  it,  is  the  fact  that  brought  Christ  into 
the  world.  The  aspirations,  the  genius,  the 
daring  ambitions,  the  blind  beatings  against  the 
cage  which  holds  him,  which  appear  through 
all  man's  unbelief,  are  evidences  of  the  nobility 
of  his  origin.  The  old  story  of  the  prodigal 
brings  out  the  truth  of  his  condition  in  one 
strong  touch :  "  He  would  fain  have  filled  his 
belly  with  the  husks  that  the  swine  did  eat.  .  .  . 
But  when  he  came  to  himself,  he  said,  How 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST.  85 

many  hired  servants  of  my  father  have  bread 
enough  and  to  spare!  "  He  had  been  "  beside 
himself"  until  that  awakening  moment.  He 
had  been  satisfied  with  the  husks  and  the  swine. 
Now  Christ  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost.  He  came  to  bring  God  back  to 
man.  His  person,  shining  out  a  bright  star 
amid  the  gloom  of  human  history,  means  that 
man  is  distinguished  above  all  other  creatures. 
It  is  set  in  our  midnight  sky  to  guide  our  feet 
into  the  way  of  peace,  because  it  tells  us  that 
when  He  touched  our  sicknesses  with  heaUng, 
and  our  sorrows  with  sympathy,  and  our  sinful 
and  remorseful  conditions  with  pardon,  and  our 
fear  of  death  with  a  promise  that  transfigures 
death,  God  was  in  Him.  His  life  was  God's 
way  of  speaking  to  us — speaking  to  us  in 
human  tones,  in  a  human  form  that  toiled  and 
suflfered  with  us,  and  saying  to  every  needy 
condition  of  our  life,  "  there  is  help,  there  is 
hope,  there  is  love,  there  is  life,  there  is  immor- 
tahty."  We  may  always  think  of  God,  there- 
fore, as  being  like  Christ.  We  may  understand 
what  His  love  towards  us  means  by  studying 
Christ's  words  and  works  and  character.     We 


86  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

may  know  that  it  is  a  love  which,  while  it  makes 
no  compromises  with  sin,  yet  yields  its  own 
Christ  to  the  cross  in  order  that  the  sinner  may 
be  pardoned.  We  may  know  that  it  is  a  patient, 
tender,  pursuing,  and  unselfish  love,  entering 
into  and  touching  every  need  and  woe  of  our 
common  life.  We  see  it  moving  in  One  who 
was  "  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with 
grief,"  blessing  the  poor,  feeding  the  hungry, 
healing  the  sick,  weeping  beside  a  grave,  drying 
the  tears  of  widows,  gathering  helpless  child- 
hood into  its  arms,  carrying  hope  down  among 
the  very  outcasts  of  society,  and  entering  into 
a  Gethsemane  of  agony  in  order  that  we  might 
know,  in  the  darkest  struggles  of  life,  that  love 
is  with  us  even  there  —  there  where  it  is  so  hard 
to  say,  "  Father,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 
Oh,  is  it  not  something  that  you  may  go  to  the 
New  Testament,  and  know,  as  you  study  Christ 
in  His  relation  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men, 
that  this  is  what  God  is  towards  you  and  all 
sorts  of  men  now?  It  seems  to  me  that  one 
can  bring  his  heart  up  to  such  a  study,  and  rest 
it  there,  and  find  great  comfort.  It  was  not  a 
weak,  indulgent,  effeminate  love.    How  intoler- 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST.  g-j 

ant  it  was  of  hypocrisy — how  it  hated  unreality, 
deceit,  pretence!  How  it  rebuked  and  put  to 
shame  by  its  own  example  selfishness !  and  yet 
how  tender  it  was  towards  sinners,  how  slow  to 
judge,  how  ready  to  forgive,  how  superior  to  the 
worid's  mean,  carping,  backbitingmisjudgments! 
I  have  said  that  because  the  love  of  God  in 
Christ  has  personality  we  can  understand  it. 
But  we  could  not  take  the  love  which  Christ 
exhibited  to  be  God's  love  if  He  had  not  proved 
Himself  to  be  something  more  than  human, — 
in  other  words,  that  which  He  claimed  to  be, 
— the  Son  of  God.  He  was  crucified,  dead, 
buried.  If  the  story  had  ended  there  we  should 
have  no  evidence  that  God  was  in  Him.  He 
was,  as  Paul  says, "  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
with  power  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead," 
This  event  carries  Him  out  of  time  into  eternity, 
out  of  the  seen  into  the  unseen,  out  of  the  past 
into  the  ever-present;  and  yet  not  out  of  his- 
tory, for  He  is  living  in  the  hearts  of  all  who 
have  received  Him,  and  in  His  Church,  which 
is  His  body.  He  has  passed  in  glorified  human 
form  into  the  presence  of  the  Invisible,  the  rep- 
resentative of  our  race,  and  embodying  in  Him- 


THE  LOVE  OF  COD  IN  CHRIST. 


self  that  which  He  has  made  possible  for  every- 
one of  us. 

We  reach  here  a  point  of  thrilling  importance, 
which  marks  the  love  of  God  in  Christ.  It 
makes  possible  for  us,  through  the  same  Christ, 
an  entering  into  His  own  sublime  relation  of 
sonship  with  the  everlasting  God.  This  state- 
ment is  no  cunningly  devised  fable.  May  God 
help  us  to  keep  it  disentangled  in  our  minds 
from  the  dogmas  of  theology.  It  is  one  of  the 
realities  of  the  gospel,  and  the  ray  of  sunshine 
which  strikes  most  directly  down  into  our  com- 
mon life. 

He  died,  but  His  death  was  God's  mysterious 
way  of  satisfying  the  avenging  forces,  and  rec- 
onciling the  guilty  consciences  of  men  to  the 
thought  of  forgiveness  in  the  Just  and  Holy  One. 
He  appeared  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave  in 
glorified  human  form — humanity  clothed  upon 
with  the  life  of  a  higher  sphere.  In  that  form 
He  appeared  to  Mary,  and  this  was  the  message 
which  He  sent  to  His  disciples — words  which 
ring  out  as  clear  and  sweet  as  village  church 
bells  on  a  summer  day :  "  Go  to  my  brethren, 
and  say  unto  them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father, 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST.  89 

and  your  Father;  and  to  my  God,  and  your 
God."  He  had  made  it  possible  by  His  death 
for  us  to  think  of  the  Infinite  as  our  Father  as 
He  was  His  Father,  and  as  our  God  as  He  was 
His  God.  He  makes  it  possible  by  His  resur- 
rection power — the  power  of  His  "  life  for 
evermore,"  the  power  of  a  divine  Spirit — for 
us  to  become,  as  He  was  and  is  in  very  thought 
and  feeling  and  character,  sons  of  God.  "  As 
many  as  received  Him,"  writes  St.  John,  "  to 
them  gave  He  power  to  become  sons  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  His  name."  He 
is  writing  of  that  which  took  place  after  Christ 
had  left  the  earth.  Love's  greatest  work  in 
Christ  did  not  begin  to  be  done  until  after  He 
had  vanished  from  the  bodily  view.  It  was  the 
work  of  entering  into  men's  souls  and  working 
Hfe  and  resurrection  there.  This  is  what  God's 
love  in  Christ  would  do  for  us  now.  It  is  mov- 
ing for  our  help  more  powerfully  and  more  uni- 
versally even  than  when  He  walked  on  earth. 
"  Touch  me  not,"  said  He  to  Mary,  "  for  I  have 
not  yet  ascended  unto  the  Father."  It  is  clearly 
to  be  inferred  that,  having  ascended.  He  can 
be  touched  as  He  could  not  be  on  earth.     We 


90 


THE  LOyE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 


may  bring  our  spirits  to  Him,  and  realise  heal- 
ing and  comfort  and  life,  just  as  truly  as  they 
did  who  brought  their  blindness  or  their  lepro- 
sies or  their  withered  limbs  when  He  walked 
through  Judea  and  Galilee.  But  we  must  bring 
our  spirits  to  Him.  God's  love  will  not  do  its 
gracious  work  for  us  if  we  choose  to  sit  in  the 
dungeon  darkness  of  our  selfishness  and  lust. 
There  is  Fatherhood  in  God  brooding  over  all 
men,  but  the  adoption  of  sons  can  only  be  for 
those  who  will  open  their  hearts  to  God,  mani- 
fested in  Jesus  Christ,  and  let  Him  take  posses- 
sion. It  is  a  spiritual  work  now.  We  know- 
Christ  no  more  after  the  flesh.  Our  conception 
of  God  must  always  wear  the  character  of  that 
unique  personality  which  has  once  for  all  in  the 
historic  record  been  projected  out  of  eternity 
upon  the  screen  of  time.  But  to  realise  God 
spiritually  now,  we  must  let  the  full  meaning  of 
that  personality  take  possession  of  our  hearts. 
This  is  what  St.  John  meant  by  receiving  Him. 
This  is  faith  in  its  simplest  definition.  Thomas, 
the  doubter,  illustrated  it  when,  standing  in  the 
presence  of  the  risen  Jesus,  the  full  meaning  of 
His  personality  suddenly  dawned   upon   him. 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 


91 


and  he  exclaimed,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God." 
He  had  long  been  His  disciple.  He  only  re- 
ceived Him  at  that  moment.  *'  Blessed  are 
they,"  said  our  Lord,  "  who  have  not  seen,  and 
yet  have  believed."  To  let  the  sense  of  God's 
love,  disclosed  in  Jesus  Christ,  come  into  your 
hearts  and  rule  there,  that  is  faith.  To  live  in 
the  consciousness  of  a  divine  Fatherhood,  and 
keep  yourselves  in  it  by  acting  as  sons  of  God, 
arc  the  simple  conditions  of  realising  the  resur- 
rection power  of  Christ. 

But  you  turn  away  wearily,  and  say  to  your- 
selves: "This  is  not  practical.  How  can  we 
busy,  toiling  men  and  women,  absorbed  in  every- 
day worries  and  awearing  struggle  for  existence, 
how  can  we  be  like  Christ?  How  can  we  act 
as  sons  of  God  in  a  world  like  ours?"  "His 
life  was  exceptional,"  you  say.  "  He  was  a 
preacher  and  teacher,  and  went  about  doing  good. 
We  have  domestic  ties.  We  have  to  work  for  a 
living."  Christ,  I  answer,  was  without  sin  ;  but 
He  was  human,  and  tried  in  all  points  like  as 
we  are.  I  sometimes  think  that  He  was  so  truly 
human  that  the  full  consciousness  of  His  deity 
did  not  dawn  upon  Him  until  He  rose  from  the 


92  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

dead.  His  life  was  not  so  unlike  ours  as  we 
imagine.  Remember  that  only  three  years  of 
His  life  were  lived  in  pubHc  ministry.  He  was 
first  the  ordinary  infant  of  Jewish  parents,  born 
in  a  manger.  He  appears  once,  after  twelve 
years,  an  eager,  thoughtful  boy,  sitting  in  the 
midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing  them  and 
asking  them  questions.  A  sense  of  some  wait- 
ing, divine  mission  seems  to  have  flashed  out  in 
the  gentle  answer  to  His  mother's  remonstrance : 
"  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business?"  But  He  went  down,  and  was  sub- 
ject unto  them.  Eighteen  years  longer — thirty 
in  all  —  He  lived  in  obscurity,  working  probably 
at  Joseph's  trade ;  and  yet  all  that  time  He  was 
growing  in  that  divine  Sonship  which  bloomed 
finally  upon  the  world's  view — "  the  glory  as 
of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth."  He  did  not  grow  away  from  God 
in  the  midst  of  the  routine  of  daily  toil  and  the 
struggle  of  a  humble  workman's  life.  When  we 
see  Him  in  His  perfected  manhood  He  is  not 
dependent  upon  anything  external  to  Himself 
for  peace  or  comfort.  He  is  calm  amid  the 
strifes  of  men,  because  the  Father  is  with  Him. 


THE  LOVE   OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST.  93 

He  is  superior  to  fear  and  pain,  and  never  mur- 
murs at  the  hard  conditions  of  His  earthly  life, 
because  His  real  life  is  in  the  unseen  and  eternal. 
Worn  to  death  upon  a  cruel  cross.  His  last  sigh 
is  breathed  in  the  words,  "  Father,  into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  Looking  back 
now,  we  see  that  through  the  grave  and  gate  of 
death  He  passed  to  a  joyful  resurrection.  And 
now  I  say  that  He  is  the  ideal  man.  I  say  that 
He  has  made  it  practicable  for  every  one  of  us 
to  live  in  just  that  same  divine  relationship  of 
sonship  with  God  as  that  in  which  He  Hved,  and 
which  made  Him  superior  to  time  and  sense  and 
death.  I  say  that  we  may  carry  into  our  work- 
day life,  as  He  did,  the  inspiration  of  our  higher 
destiny,  that  we  may  live  in  His  peace,  and 
commend  our  souls  at  death  to  the  same  Father. 
It  simply  depends  upon  yourselves,  your  own 
wills,  whether  you  will  live  in  the  sunshine  of 
Christ's  Father  and  your  Father,  of  His  God 
and  your  God  ;  or  whether  you  will  shrink  away 
into  the  earth,  like  creatures  whose  nature  it  is 
to  burrow  under  stones  and  into  dark,  damp 
holes,  because  they  love  darkness  rather  than 
light.     Oh,  what  would  not  the  love  of  God, 


94 


THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 


which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  do  for  us,  if 
we  would  but  let  it  come  in !  It  would  change 
the  whole  atmosphere  of  our  inner,  secret  life. 
It  would  make  us  realise  that  our  true  life  is  in 
the  spiritual  and  eternal.  It  would  breathe  into 
us  a  vivid  consciousness  that  God  is  our  Father 
really,  and  not  merely  in  metaphor.  The  human 
fatherhood  is  the  imperfect,  reflected  image  of 
the  reality  in  God.  It  would  have  us  know 
that  we  may  hide  our  failings  and  infirmities  in 
the  bosom  of  His  great  love,  confident  that  if 
our  purpose  is  honest  He  will  understand  and 
make  allowances,  even  when  short-sighted 
earthly  friends  censure  and  misjudge.  It  would 
make  us  both  ashamed  and  afraid  to  sin,  because 
sin  is  against  love,  and  every  cherished  sin  puts 
the  obscuring  of  our  own  sense  of  guilt  between 
us  and  life.  It  would  fuse  all  duty  and  obedi- 
ence into  one  glowing  principle  of  love  to  God, 
working  out  in  love  to  man.  It  would  make  us 
fearless  of  the  threatenings  of  time,  man,  and 
death,  in  the  certain  confidence  that  we  are 
"  bound  in  the  bundle  of  life  with  the  Lord 
our  God,"  It  would  clothe  all  nature  with  new 
and  satisfying  charms,  because  in  all  its  forms. 


THE  LOVE   OF   GOD  IN   CHRIST.  95 


from  the  fragrant  lily-of-the-valley  to  the 
lightning's  red  gleam,  we  should  see  love  work- 
ing— working  life  even  through  seeming  death 
and  destruction. 

Time  forbids  me  to  go  further.  It  would  be 
easy  to  show  how  God's  love  in  Christ,  received 
into  men's  hearts,  would  solve  every  dark  prob- 
lem of  their  condition,  lift  them  out  of  sin  into 
new  and  divine  relations,  harmonise  all  the  harsh 
discords  of  their  social  life  by  bringing  it  into 
unison  with  the  spirit  of  Christ's  command 
"  that  ye  love  one  another,  as  I  have  loved 
you,"  disclose  in  sorrov/  and  pain  only  such  a 
discipline  as  He  passed  through  who,  "  though 
He  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  He  obedience  by 
the  things  which  He  suffered,"  and  rob  death 
of  all  its  terrors  in  the  light  of  His  rising,  who 
shall  change  our  vile  bodies  and  make  them  like 
unto  His  own  glorious  body. 

My  friends,  you  know  that  the  health  of  your 
bodies  is  affected  by  the  atmosphere  in  which 
you  breathe  and  live.  You  know,  too,  that  in 
a  moral  sense  your  minds  and  manners  are 
affected  by  the  social  atmosphere  with  which 
you  may  choose  to  surround  yourselves.     It  is 


96  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD  IN  CHRIST. 

a  matter  of  infinitely  greater  importance  that 
3^ou  should  consider  what  sort  of  atmosphere 
you  habitually  think  in.  I  fear  that  many  of 
us  may  find,  if  we  go  dov/n  into  the  secrecy  of 
our  souls,  that  we  are  breathing  the  stifled, 
poisoned  air  of  selfishness,  lust,  or  mere  earthi- 
ness.  There  can  be  no  Hfe,  light,  nor  salvation 
for  us  until  we  throw  open  the  windows  and  let 
the  great  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord,  come  in  and  take  possession  of  us. 


VI. 

Hife  in  t^e  Higl^t  of  tl^e 
Mzmntttion. 


VI. 

LIFE   IN   THE   LIGHT   OF   THE 
RESURRECTION. 

Wherefore  2ve  faint  not;  hut  though  our  outward  man 
is  decaying,  yet  our  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by 
day.  For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  for  the  mo- 
ment, workeih  for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly  an 
eternal  weight  of  glory;  while  we  look  not  at  the 
things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are 
not  seen:  for  the  things  wJiich  ai'e  see7i  are  temporal; 
but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal.— 
2  Cor.  iv.  16-18. 

LIFE  looked  very  dark  to  St.  Paul  when  he 
•^  wrote  these  words.  The  world  was  against 
him.  He  was  perplexed,  persecuted,  v/eary, 
and  death  stared  him  in  the  face.  But  he  sees  a 
bright  side  to  all  this.  He  counts  the  afifliction 
light  and  for  the  moment,  compared  with  the 
eternal  weight  of  glory  which  it  is  working  for 
him. 

Where  does  he  get  this  confidence?    Where 
99 


loo  LIFE  IN  THE  LiGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

is  he  standing,  tiiat  he  should  be  able  to  see 
glory  gilding  such  conditions?  He  gets  the 
confidence  from  a  habit  of  mind  which  looks 
not  at  things  seen,  but  rather  through  and  be- 
yond them  to  things  unseen  and  eternal.  He 
stands  in  the  faith  of  a  Christian,  who  endures 
as  "  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible." 

Now  I  have  no  intention  of  arguing  with 
anybody.  This  is  neither  the  time  nor  the  place 
for  argument.  The  materialist  and  the  infidel 
would  "  not  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from 
the  dead."  I  only  propose  to  set  forth  the  habit 
of  mind  which  Christianity  would  create  in  us, 
and  to  show  that  it  puts  us  on  the  bright  side 
of  the  darkest  dispensations,  and  affords  us  a 
largeness  of  view  and  a  largeness  of  living  which 
make  all  other  living  seem  small  and  pitiable. 

There  are  things  seen,  and  there  are  things 
not  seen.  This  much,  I  think,  every  one  must 
admit.  That  nothing  exists  but  that  which  our 
eyes  can  behold  is  a  manifest  absurdity ;  for  the 
very  thought  that  thinks  it,  is  invisible,  and  yet 
thought  is.  The  life  that  is  in  every  one  of  us 
cannot  be  seen,  and  yet  life  is. 

The  majority  of  people  Hve  under  the  domin- 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURliECTlON.   loi 

ion  of  things  seen,  and  count  it  the  only  rational 
way  of  living.  There  is  certainly  much  that  is 
bright  and  beautiful  for  our  eyes  to  enjoy.  We 
have  nature,  with  its  myriad  forms  of  softness 
and  serenity,  gentleness  and  power,  beauty  and 
sublimity.  We  have  man's  works,  everywhere 
displaying  skill,  genius,  enterprise — painting 
and  sculpture,  architecture,  daring  inventions, 
and  innumerable  lovely  creations  of  his  hand, 
rivalling  nature  itself.  We  have  the  world  of 
humanity,  with  its  lovely  forms  of  childhood  and 
youth  and  womanhood,  to  charm  our  eyes ; 
with  relations  and  associations  of  family  and 
friendship  which  are  precious  to  us;  with  its 
capacities  for  social  excitement  and  pleasure, 
the  song,  the  dance,  the  feast,  the  play  of 
thought  and  wit,  the  converse  of  congenial 
spirits.  Oh,  yes,  says  youth  ;  there  is  every- 
thing to  live  for  in  the  things  which  we  see. 
We  are  in  this  present  visible  scheme  of  things  ; 
why  should  we  not  enjoy  it? 

Shall  I  tell  you  that  if  you  love  the  present 
world  you  will  lose  a  heaven  of  bliss  hereafter? 
A  great  mistake  is  often  made,  I  think,  by  Chris- 
tian ministers,  and  great  harm  done  to  their 


102  LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

cause,  by  vague  denunciation  of  something  which 
they  call  the  world  and  do  not  define.  The 
impression  is  conveyed  that  Christianity  com- 
pels a  choice  between  the  present  world,  in 
which  we  must  eat,  drink,  toil,  love,  enjoy,  and 
suffer,  and  a  possible  heaven  of  bliss  in  some 
far-off  hereafter.  I  do  not  much  wonder  that 
some  sceptics  echo  the  sentiments  of  the  old 
Persian  poet  towards  Mohammedanism : 

"  Some  for  the  glories  of  this  world,  and  some 
Sigh  for  the  Prophet's  paradise  to  come. 
Ah,  take  the  cash  and  let  the  credit  go, 
Nor  heed  the  rumble  of  a  distant  drum." 

Christianity  does  not  set  a  possible  future 
against  a  certain  present.  It  is  an  entire  mis- 
conception to  suppose  so.  The  heaven  which  it 
opens  to  the  believer  begins  here  and  now.  Its 
light  comes  in  through  the  faith  which  opens 
to  a  perception  of  things  unseen  and  eternal. 
Worldliness  is  living  exclusively  in  and  for 
things  seen.  Unworldliness  is  not  ignoring  the 
seen,  separating  yourself  from  it,  hating  it;  but 
looking  through  it  to  the  unseen,  and  living  for 
that,  and  under  the  dominion  of  that,  and  with 
a  view  to  that.     Here  is  the  real  distinction. 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  103 

"  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,"  said  Jesus  Christ, 
"  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  " — 
heaven  hereafter?  no;  but — "lose  himself  ?" 
If  you  live  only  for  the  material, —  the  grati- 
fication of  the  senses,  the  enjoyment  of  that 
which  you  can  see  and  taste  and  handle, — 
you  necessarily  starve  all  the  higher  faculties  of 
your  being.  There  is  a  side  of  your  nature 
which  would  blossom  towards  the  Infinite.  It 
is  capable  of  spiritually  seeing  God  and  living 
eternally  in  His  light.  But  if  you  never  open 
it  towards  things  unseen  and  eternal,  all  these 
divine  possibilities  wither;  unused,  they  die,  like 
the  eyes  of  fish  in  dark  caverns,  which  through 
disuse  have  lost  the  capacity  for  seeing. 

When  you  ask  me,  then,  why  you  may  not 
enjoy  all  that  you  see  in  this  beautiful  world,  I 
answer  that  you  may,  and  should,  enjoy  every- 
thing that  is  pure  and  lovely;  but  if  you  live 
only  by  the  sight  of  the  eyes,  you  miss  the 
highest  life  —  you  lose  your  true  spiritual  self. 
And  then  what  an  uneasy,  restless,  unsatisfying 
dream  life  is,  if  there  is  nothing  but  the  things 
seen!  There  is  one  fact  about  them  which 
must  be  admitted,  and  v/hich  shuts  us  up  under 


104  LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

a  sad,  oppressive,  ever-brooding  mystery  :  "  The 
things  which  are  seen  are  temporal."  The  very 
earth  beneath  our  feet,  which  we  call  firm,  some- 
times trembles,  and  makes  shipwreck  of  our 
confidence.  Youth  soon  finds  that  its  bright 
hopes  are  graveyard  lights,  delusive  will-o'-the- 
wisps,  or  the  phosphorescence  of  decay  shining 
in  the  night.  Temporal !  Yes ;  youth  grows 
grave  and  care-worn  and  gray.  The  eyes  of 
the  wife  or  the  child  or  the  friend,  that  beam  on 
us  with  love,  fade.  Their  light  goes  out;  we 
close  them.  They  are  gone,  and  we  are  alone! 
When  we  attain,  we  have  lost  the  capacity  for 
enjoyment.  Change  is  everywhere.  We  may 
be  thankful,  when  we  think  of  the  wrongs,  crime, 
pain,  and  poverty  which  are  in  the  world,  that 
the  things  seen  are  temporal.  We  must  die. 
If  death  ends  all,  the  Epicurean  maxim  is  wis- 
dom :  "  Let  us  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry  to-day  ; 
for  to-morrow  we  die." 

Let  who  will  think  this  is  rational  and  all  that 
is  possible  for  man.  I  say  that  the  man  who 
thinks  and  feels,  who  has  a  spark  of  anything 
which  is  not  merely  animal  left  in  him,  knows 
better. 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.   105 

But  turn  now  to  the  more  cheerful  side  of  the 
subject. 

There  are  things  unseen  and  eternal.  The 
trouble  is  that  we  are  in  such  a  material  habit, 
so  incrusted  with  material  needs,  thoughts,  and 
desires,  that  we  have  come  to  believe  that  noth- 
ing can  be  real  which  cannot  be  seen.  We  do 
not  dare  to  open  ourselves  to  the  invisible  forces 
which  are  pressing  upon  us  on  all  sides  and 
sometimes  break  through  in  manifestations 
which  startle  us. 

We  feel  them  in  nature.  Back  of  the  laws 
and  forces  v/hich  science  discovers,  every  un- 
biassed thinker  feels  that  there  is  Infinite  Mind. 
What  is  it  that  makes  almost  a  pain  the  ecstasy 
of  enjoyment  which  we  feel  when  we  look  into 
some  lovely  sunset  sky,  or  breathe  the  crisp  air 
of  some  mountain  height,  with  the  deep  blue 
of  space  over  us?  What  is  it  that  makes 
us  long  to  melt  and  lose  ourselves  in  their 
brooding  atmosphere  of  spiritual  beauty  and 
perpetual  peace?  Why  do  we  turn  back  to  the 
prosaic  world  sad,  like  some  galley-slave  who 
has  caught  the  sound  of  far-off  bells,  and  voices 
of  the  long-lost  and  almost  forgotten  home? 


io6  LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

Is  it  not  that,  back  of  or  within  the  visible, 
there  is  a  spiritual  something  which  is  our  birth- 
right, and  which  we  have  somehow  lost?  The 
very  rose  that  is  sent  to  us  in  our  sick-room  has 
its  grea.test  charm,  it  seems  to  me,  in  something 
that  we  do  not  see.  We  enjoy  its  perfume  and 
lovely  hues  and  delicate  petals,  but  there  is 
something  more  than  its  fading  beauty.  I  al- 
ways feel  that  it  would  tell  me  something — that 
it  has  a  cheering  message  from  somewhere.  I 
think,  if  it  could  speak,  it  would  tell  me  how 
lovely  and  full  of  love  He  is  who  thought  a  rose, 
and  thought  it  for  me!      Is  it  my  God? 

Thoughtful  men  of  all  ages  have  been  con- 
scious of  these  unseen  powers.  They  have  built 
their  altars  to  the  unknown  God.  Not  until  God 
manifested  Himself  in  Jesus  Christ  was  heaven 
opened.  This  is  the  truth  of  Easter  day — a 
truth  in  which  all  Christians  must  rejoice  :  "  Life 
and  immortality  brought  to  light." 

"  Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  be- 
come the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept."  The 
historic  Christ  who  was  "  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  cruci- 
fied, dead,  and  buried,"  burst  the  bands  of  death, 


LIFB  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.   107 

left  the  tomb  empty,  folded  up  the  grave-clothes, 
appeared  to  His  disciples,  then  vanished  out  of 
their  sight.  The  resurrection  is  just  as  much  an 
authenticated  fact  of  history  as  any  other  fact 
of  His  life.  It  is  precisely  that  which  might  be 
expected  from  His  character  and  works.  He 
proved  Himself,  by  this  act,  to  be  what  He  had 
claimed  to  be:  "  Immanuel — God  with  us." 
He  is  not  merely  a  reminiscence,  a  historic  char- 
acter of  the  past,  like  Socrates  or  Plato,  or  Caesar 
or  Napoleon.  He  is  a  living  Christ.  He  has 
passed  out  of  time  into  the  glory  which  He  had 
with  the  Father  before  the  world  was.  Divine, 
yet  human — the  God-man!  The  voice  that 
comes  back  to  us  from  Him  to-day  out  of  the 
unseen  declares:  "I  am  He  that  liveth,  and 
was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore, 
and  have  the  keys  of  Hades  and  of  death." 
"  This  is  our  God.  We  have  waited  for  Him, 
and  He  is  become  our  salvation."  He  is  alive 
for  us — alive  that,  through  His  brotherhood 
with  us,  He  might  make  us  know  and  feel  that 
we  are  sons  of  the  one  Father.  "  Go,"  said  He 
to  Mary,  "  and  tell  my  brethren  that  I  ascend 
unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father;  and  to  my 


io8  LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

God,  and  your  God."  Alive,  that  we  may  know 
that  there  is  a  world  beyond  time  and  sense. 
"  In  my  Father's  house,"  said  He  to  His  disci- 
ples, "  are  many  mansions ;  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you." 

Here,  then,  is  the  light  that  is  ready  to  shine 
into  our  hearts  out  of  the  unseen  and  eternal — 
"  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  To  look  not 
merely  at  the  doctrine  about  Christ,  nor  at  the 
Bible  which  reveals  Him,  but  to  look  in  the  face 
—  that  is,  into  His  divine  personality  as  the  New 
Testament  reveals  Him — is  the  first  step  to- 
wards the  light.  To  throw  down  our  prejudices, 
and  let  that  personality,  in  all  its  perfect  beauty, 
take  possession  of  us,  to  trust  it  as  a  living  per- 
sonality, living  for  us  and  in  us,  to  stand,  in  a 
word,  where  Thomas  did,. and  say  with  a  sense 
of  personal  appropriation,  "  My  Lord  and  my 
God  " — that  is  faith. 

Standing  here,  we  begin  to  see  and  feel  the 
power  of  things  unseen  and  eternal.  Nature 
and  the  present  world  remain,  but  they  are 
transfigured.  The  sun  is  on  them  now.  "  The 
things  which  are  seen   are   temporal."     Yes; 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  109 

death  is  here.  Nature  has  lovely  phases,  but  it 
will  blast  with  its  lightnings  and  overwhelm  with 
its  avalanches,  earthquakes,  and  torrents  thou- 
sands of  human  beings,  reckless  of  youth,  beauty, 
innocence,  or  virtue,  sweeping  them  away  as  if 
they  were  ants!  In  vain  do  we  think  of  the 
God  behind  nature  and  life  as  a  tender  Father 
when  He  seems  so  reckless  of  human  life  and 
suffering. 

But  when  we  see  all  this  in  the  light  of  the 
resurrection,  we  can  understand  that  death  is 
not  the  worst  thing  that  can  happen  to  us.  Christ 
entered  into  the  agony  of  the  garden  and  the 
cross;  He  was  permitted  to  die  a  cruel  death, 
though  He  was  "  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth."  But  death 
was  only  an  incident  of  the  divine  life  which 
was  to  triumph  over  it.  He  entered  into  our 
human  conditions  of  suffering  and  death  in 
order  that  we  might,  through  Him,  triumph 
over  them.  We  make  too  much  of  death.  It 
is  but  an  incident  of  the  life  in  us  that  lives  on 
when  the  body  falls  away.  It  is  the  dissolution 
of  the  material  which  sets  the  spirit  free.  It  is 
the  breaking  of  the  cage  that  lets  the  imprisoned 


no  LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

bird  fly.  It  is  the  dropping  of  the  withered 
autumn  leaf,  that  the  new  budding  life  beneath 
may  spring.  What  shall  I  fear,  then?  Let 
come  what  may  of  desolation,  pain,  death,  "our 
light  affliction,  which  is  for  the  moment,  worketh 
for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly  an  eternal 
weight  of  glory."  "  I  am  the  resurrection,  and 
the  life,"  saith  the  Lord:  "he  that  believeth 
on  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live : 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall 
never  die." 

Realise  the  meaning  of  these  sublime  words, 
and  think  what  a  terror  vanishes,  what  perplex- 
ities which  seem  to  contradict  God's  love  are 
removed,  and  what  infinite  possibilities  are 
opened  to  us.  But  beyond  all  this,  think  of  the 
new  meaning  which  the  dearest  relations  of  life 
take  on,  when  we  look  through  them  to  the  un- 
seen Christ  and  the  eternal  possibilities  in  Him. 
The  hardest  experiences  in  life,  perhaps,  are 
those  in  which  we  have  to  see  vanish  into  an 
awful  silence  loved  ones  who  are  parts  of  our 
very  being.  Father,  mother,  brother,  sister, 
child,  are  ties  which  bind  us  to  all  that  is  pur- 
est and  happiest  on  earth ;   but  looked  at  in 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.  1 1 1 

their  visible  forms  they  are  temporal.  They 
must  die,  and  we  must  die.  When  the  sorrow 
comes  we  are  apt  to  think,  if  we  do  not  say, 
"  What  does  God  know  about  it?  He  is  a  far- 
off  abstraction.  He  cannot  understand  a  poor, 
bereaved  mother's  or  father's  love!" 

Ah,  just  here  we  make  a  mistake.  What 
right  have  we  to  separate  ourselves  from  the 
great  Father  in  whose  image  we  were  made? 
Christ  entered  into  our  human  conditions  for 
the  express  purpose  of  making  us  know  and 
feel  that  the  Father  does  know  and  understand 
our  sorrows.  "If,"  said  He,  "ye,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children, 
how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him  ?  " 
See !  He  authorises  us  to  do  something  which 
we  are  always  afraid  to  do — reason  up  from 
our  pure  human  affections  to  God.  If  you  can 
love  so,  how  much  more  the  infinite  Father 
who  is  the  spring  of  this  love !  If  He  has  cre- 
ated a  mother's  love  to  be  the  soft,  protecting 
cradle  of  infancy,  surely  we  may  be  confident 
that  the  everlasting  arms  are  underneath  when 
our  children  pass  away,  and  that  they  are  folded 


112  LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

into  infinite  tenderness.  We  are  comforted  by 
the  tears  and  kind  ministries  of  our  friends. 
We  are  always  thinking  that  our  friends  are 
kinder  than  God.  We  never  think  that  He  can 
be  like  that.  But  are  not  they  parts  of  God,  as 
the  rose  is  an  expression  of  God  ?  To  bring  us 
back  to  a  consciousness  of  this  fact,  from  which 
sin  had  divorced  us,  He  expressed  Himself  to 
the  world  in  the  human  form  of  Christ.  He 
was  our  brother  in  the  flesh,  entering  into  all 
the  conditions  of  our  life,  from  childhood  to  the 
bitter  cry  in  the  garden,  "  Father,  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, let  this  cup  pass."  He  is  the  same  now 
in  His  risen  glory.  Uniting  in  Himself  the 
human  and  divine.  He  is  ever  for  us  the  expres- 
sion of  God,  and  we  know  from  His  ministry  on 
earth  how  He  could  pity  and  weep  and  love  and 
suffer.  He  is  nearer  to  us  all  than  when  He 
was  on  earth,  by  His  Spirit  pervading  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  His  people.  He  is  present  with  us 
in  all  those  precious,  unselfish,  loving  ministries 
which  touch  us  in  our  sorrows  and  needs.  We 
are  too  prone  to  forget  that  the  spirit  of  love 
which  is  present  in  the  world,  providing  homes 
for  the  orphan,  the  widow,  the  sick,  the  needy. 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.   113 

going  about  doing  good,  working  quietly 
through  thousands  of  faithful  women,  making 
itself  felt  in  little  rather  than  great  acts,  and  in 
unconscious  influence  as  much  as  by  direct  efTort 
— we  forget,  I  say,  that  Christ  is  in  all  this.  It 
gets  its  impulse  from  the  beating  of  His  great 
heart  against  the  hearts  of  those  that  trust  Him. 
Well,  then,  if  there  really  is  a  Father  who 
lives  so  near  us  in  the  known  person  of  the 
risen  Jesus,  why  should  we  not  be  confident 
that  the  forms  which  are  so  dear  to  us  are  only 
fading  into  the  reaUties  of  a  larger  Hfe  for  them 
and  for  us?     Why  should  we  not  be  patient 

"Till 
The  night  is  gone; 
And  with  the  morn  those  angel  faces  smile. 
Which  we  have  loved  long  since,  and  lost  awhile." 

Do  you  not  also  see,  that  which  I  have  not 
time  to  dwell  upon,  that  the  mixed  circum- 
stances and  events  of  the  world  and  of  our  in- 
dividual Hves,  which  seem  utterly  confused  and 
dark  and  hopeless  when  we,  like  one  lost  in  a 
fog,  are  entangled  in  and  under  them,  appear 
simply  as  the  writhing  of  the  morning  mist  in 
the  valley  before  the  coming  glory  of  the  day, 


114 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 


when  we  look  at  them  in  the  light  of  His  eter- 
nal purposes,  to  whom  one  day  is  as  a  thousand 
years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day?  I 
have  often  stood  on  mountain-tops,  and,  seeing 
the  mist  roUing  below,  have  thought  how  gloomy 
it  must  be  to  dwellers  in  the  valley.  They  were 
under  the  clouds.  They  could  not  realise  how 
transient  they  were,  but  I  knew  how  the  sun 
was  working  through  them;  I  knew  that  they 
were  but  for  a  moment. 

I  have  read  somewhere  of  an  Athenian  so 
wise  that  the  most  difficult  questions  which 
could  be  devised  failed  to  perplex  him.  A  cer- 
tain young  philosopher  boasted  that  he  could 
outwit  him.  He  proposed  to  hold  a  little  bird 
concealed  in  his  hand,  and  then  to  ask  him  if  it 
was  alive  or  dead.  If  he  should  answer,  "  Alive," 
he  would  crush  it  and  say,  "No;  it  is  dead." 
If  he  should  say,  "  It  is  dead,"  he  would  open 
his  hand  and  let  it  fly.  He  held  the  bird  in  his 
hand,  and  put  the  question,  "  Sage,  is  it  alive  or 
dead?"  The  sage  answered,  "It  is  as  you 
will!" 

My  friends,  you  have  it  in  your  power  to  let 
your  spirits  fly  or  to  crush  them  in  an  earthly 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION.   115 

grasp.  Whether  they  shall  live  eternally  in  the 
sunshine  of  God's  smile,  or  die,  does  not  depend 
upon  argument ;  it  is  not  a  question  for  the  in- 
tellect to  determine.  If  you  are  in  sympathy 
with  that  which  is  pure  and  noble  and  unselfish 
and  true,  you  will  open  your  hearts  to  Jesus 
Christ  and  say,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God."  The 
question  of  Hfe  or  death  for  your  soul  is  a  moral, 
not  an  intellectual,  one.     "  It  is  as  you  will!  " 


VII. 

^tmm  "bv  tl)e  ^tnS* 


VII. 
STAYING  BY   THE    STUFF. 

As  his  part  is  thai  goeth  down  to  the  battle,  so  shall 
his  part  be  that  tarrieth  by  the  stuff:  they  shall  part 
alike.  — I  Sam.  xxx.  24. 

ZIKLAG  was  the  dwelling-place  of  David  and 
his  followers  during  their  temporary  sojourn 
in  the  country  of  the  Philistines.  It  was  at  that 
desperate  period  in  his  life  when  the  madness 
of  Saul  made  him  an  outlaw  and  forced  him  into 
entangling  alliances  with  Israel's  foes.  He  had 
left  the  town  with  his  little  army  and  joined  the 
forces  of  the  Philistine  king,  Achish.  But  the 
presence  of  the  Hebrews  created  distrust  in  the 
Philistine  camp,  and  they  were  obliged  to  march 
back  to  Ziklag.  They  reached  the  city  only  to 
find  it  a  smoking  ruin.  The  Amalekites,  a 
neighbouring  people,  had  seized  the  opportunity 
which  the  absence  of  the  warriors  afforded  to 
revenge  previous  depredations  upon  their  own 
119 


120  STAYING  BY   THE  STUFF. 


borders.  Wives  and  children  had  been  carried 
into  captivity.  Desolation  reigned  where  they 
had  looked  for  rest  and  love  and  plenty.  Their 
grief  knew  no  control.  They  wept  until  they 
had  no  more  power  to  weep,  and  then  turned  in 
wrath  upon  their  leader,  and  muttered  fierce 
threats  against  him.  It  was  a  moment  of  bitter 
agony  for  poor  David.  His  soul  might  well  cry 
out,  "  All  Thy  waves  and  Thy  billows  are  gone 
over  me."  Outcast,  bereaved,  plundered,  and 
now  menaced  by  his  own  followers,  it  was  no 
weak  faith  which  enabled  him  to  look  away 
from  flesh  and  earth  and  "  encourage  himself  in 
the  Lord."  Divinely  taught,  he  found  in  im- 
mediate action  an  outlet  for  the  angry  feeling 
which  threatened  to  burst  upon  his  own  head. 
The  storm  was  turned  against  the  spoilers,  and, 
forgetting  hunger  and  fatigue,  moved  by  the 
thought  of  their  dear  ones'  wrongs  and  the 
hope  of  rescue,  the  little  band  of  six  hundred 
started  in  quick  pursuit.  Now  two  hundred  of 
their  number  fainted  by  the  way.  Their  hearts 
and  wills  were  strong  to  go  on,  but  their  weary 
feet  refused  to  carry  them.  The  brave  rem- 
nant, disencumbering  themselves  of  every  un- 


STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 


necessary  article,  left  "the  stuff"  in  charge  of 
their  exhausted  comrades  at  the  brook  Besor, 
while  they  pressed  forward.  They  surprised 
the  Philistines  as  they  were  feasting  in  their 
camp,  scattered  them  with  great  slaughter,  res- 
cued unharmed  their  wives  and  children,  re- 
covered their  lost  possessions,  and  gained  a 
great  spoil  besides.  Triumphant  and  rejoicing, 
they  turned  back  to  their  waiting  comrades  at 
the  brook.  Here,  in  mutual  congratulations  and 
the  reunion  of  parted  families  and  friends,  joy 
reached  its  height.  But  the  happiness  of  that 
hour  was  marred  (as  the  same  cause  has  marred 
domestic  joy  in  many  an  age  since  then)  by  a 
question  of  property.  Certain  grasping  sons  of 
Belial  claimed  that  those  who  had  not  gone 
down  to  the  battle  should  have  no  share  in  the 
spoils.  It  had  been  pain  to  the  fainting  ones  to 
linger.  It  was  their  misfortune,  and  not  their 
fault.  They  were  not  to  be  held  accountable 
for  that  which  God  had  allowed  for  His  own 
glory  and  they  had  not  willed.  They  had  hon- 
estly "  done  what  they  could."  David,  recog- 
nising the  cruelty  and  injustice  of  the  claim, 
interposed  his  authority.     His  decision  became 


122  STAYING  BY   THE  STUFF. 

a  statute  and  ordinance  in  Israel  from  that  hour, 
"  Ye  shall  not  do  so,  my  brethren.  .  .  .  But  as 
his  part  is  that  goeth  down  to  the  battle,  so 
shall  his  part  be  that  tarrieth  by  the  stuff:  they 
shall  part  alike." 

It  was  the  principle  which  David's  greater 
Son  unfolded  when  He  said  :  "  He  that  is  faith- 
ful in  that  which  is  least  is  faithful  also  in  much." 
It  suggests  some  truths  which  are  commonly 
overlooked,  and  which  are  full  of  meaning  for 
that  large  class  of  persons  whose  lives  move  in 
a  routine  of  quiet,  ordinary,  every-day  duty. 
We  need  do  little  more  than  state  the  general 
principle  that  service  is  a  universal  duty.  David 
and  his  men  had  a  work  binding  upon  every 
one  of  them  to  do,  and  all  were  called  to  it; 
but  a  difference  in  ability  made  a  diversity  of 
work.  So  all  men  are  called  to  serve  God. 
Whether  we  will  serve  Him,  or  not  serve  at 
all,  is  really  not  an  open  question.  We  must, 
by  the  very  necessity  of  our  constitution,  serve 
some  master.  Idleness  in  the  sense  of  pure 
quiescence  is,  for  a  rational  creature,  impossible. 
The  indolent  m.an  is  one  of  Satan's  busiest  in- 
struments.    The    machine    works    steadily  on 


STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 


^23 


through  its  appointed  time.  If  we  do  not  oc- 
cupy the  soul  with  useful  thoughts  and  purposes, 
it  wears  upon  itself  and  works  out  its  own  de- 
struction. The  man  who  lives  to  pamper  his 
own  desires  is  a  creature  of  the  flesh.  He  who 
chooses  wilfully  to  commit  sin  is  the  slave  of 
sin.  The  world  and  the  flesh  and  sin  are  chief 
captains  of  the  prince  of  darkness.  Idleness, 
therefore,  is  merely  a  voluntary  assignment  of 
ourselves  to  evil.  Self-indulgence  is  a  farming 
for  the  same  master — "  sowing  to  the  flesh,  and 
of  the  flesh  reaping  corruption."  Wilful  sinning 
is  direct  service  with  hire  ;  its  wages  "  is  death." 
Man  is  not  left  free  to  choose  between  the  yoke 
of  Christ  or  no  yoke  at  all.  The  question  is, 
Whom  shall  he  serve?  Shall  I  be  the  slave 
of  the  evil  one,  or  the  free  and  loving  child  of 
God?  The  service  of  children — children  of 
God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ — is  that  to  which 
we  are  called.  For  this  service  we  were  made. 
By  it  the  highest  end  of  our  being  is  reached, 
and  its  fullest  development  attained.  To  bring 
us  back  to  the  knowledge  of  it,  and  make  us 
again  capable  of  it,  Christ  lived  and  died.  It  is 
true  that  "by  faith  we  are  saved,"  but  faith 


124 


STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 


creates  the  noblest  kind  of  action,  because  it 
inspires  love.  Love  cannot  be  otherwise  than 
fruitful  in  good  works.  Faith  without  works  is 
certainly  dead,  and  the  Christian  who  has  felt 
the  glow  of  a  living  faith  must  keep  it  alive  by- 
yielding  to  its  unselfish  impulses,  or  the  life  will 
certainly  die  out  of  him.  Exercise  is  quite  as 
essential  to  the  health  of  the  soul  as  it  is  to  the 
health  of  the  body.  The  spiritual  feebleness, 
melancholy,  and  indifference  of  not  a  few  who 
call  themselves  Christians  is  wholly  due  to  stag- 
nation. We  have  marked  with  delight  the  effect 
of  zeal  for  some  good  work  stirred  up  in  such 
sluggish  souls.  Shaken  out  of  their  selfishness, 
they  forget  their  morbid  grievances,  and  become 
bright  with  hope  and  glowing  with  life.  The 
movement  is  like  the  flow  of  a  river.  When  the 
tide  is  at  its  height,  and  just  idling  before  it 
turns,  there  is  scum  upon  its  surface.  The  de- 
bris which  the  inflowing  waters  have  brought 
up  clings  to  its  banks  and  makes  deformity. 
But  the  current  turns,  and  then  all  this  un- 
healthiness  is  borne  out  and  away.  The  river 
sparkles  and  is  pure  and  glad  again.  Let  a 
fervent  love  tide  through  your  heart  and  go  out 


STAYING  BY   THE  STUFF.  125 

in  corresponding  deeds,  and  the  mass  of  doubts 
and  fears  and  morbid  feelings  which  obstruct 
and  breed  disease  will  be  swept  away,  and  the 
spiritual  life  roll  on,  ever  increasing  in  peace 
and  purity,  until  it  meets  the  sea. 

But  we  come  closer  to  the  immediate  princi- 
ple of  our  text,  and  remind  you  again  that 
varieties  of  capacity  and  condition  occasion 
manifoldness  of  service.  Some  are  compelled 
to  stay  "  by  the  stuff  "  while  others  go  down  to 
the  battle.  Those  fainting  ones  whose  grief  it 
w'as  to  linger  and  be  passive  by  the  brook,  rep- 
resent a  large  class  of  earnest  Christian  souls. 
They  are  troubled  because  they  cannot  do 
some  great  thing.  They  associate  acceptable 
work  with  high  philanthropic  effort  or  the  self- 
denying  missionary  life.  Thus,  straining  after 
lofty  deeds,  they  are  in  danger  of  overlooking 
the  duty  which  lies  at  their  door.  The  Church 
of  Christ  may  be  compared  to  the  complicated 
wheel-work  of  a  v/atch.  There  are  tiny  levers 
whose  action  is  scarcely  perceptible ;  there  are 
passive  screws  and  rivets  whose  virtue  it  is  to 
be  fixed  and  firm  ;  there  are  wheels  which  move 
fast,  and  wheels  v/hich  move  with  a  measured, 


126  STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 

monotonous,  retarded  movement;  but  each 
smallest  piece  is  necessary  to  the  proper  adjust- 
ment and  operation  of  the  whole.  The  beauty 
and  utility  of  the  thing  depend  upon  the  exact- 
ness with  which  every  part,  however  trifling  ap- 
parently, fulfils  its  appointed  office.  There  are 
some  among  Christ's  people  who  have  wealth 
and  all  the  attendant  opportunities  for  exerting 
influence  and  dispensing  charity,  while  others 
are  surrendered  to  poverty  and  its  hard  condi- 
tions. Some  are  blessed  with  health  and  vigour, 
while  the  life  of  others  is  an  hourly  struggle 
with  pain  and  feebleness.  Some  have,  by  edu- 
cational advantages  or  natural  gifts,  large  intel- 
lectual abilities,  while  others  move  in  a  more 
restricted  sphere  of  thought  and  have  but  one 
talent.  If  we  judged  as  men  judge,  by  the  bare 
outside,  we  might  conclude  that  only  a  favoured 
few  have  opportunities  for  service ;  but  when 
we  look  over  the  field  as  it  is  in  God's  sight,  and 
consider  that  He  gathers  into  His  remembrance 
the  ordinary  and  the  extraordinary,  the  unno- 
ticed and  the  conspicuous,  the  active  and  the 
passive  alike,  ah,  then  we  know  that  there  are 
possibilities  of  service  in  every  sphere. 


STAYING   BY   THE  STUFF. 


127 


The  opportunities  for  extraordinary  deeds  are 
few.  They  are  not  often  found  by  those  who 
seek  them.  Men  rise  to  them  out  of  and  over 
ordinary  things.  If  we  wait  for  them  we  may 
waste  a  Hfetime  and  go  empty-handed  into  the 
presence  of  our  Judge  at  last.  But  ordinary 
duties  press  upon  us  always  and  everywhere. 
Not  an  hour  passes  in  which  we  may  not  har- 
vest something  for  our  Lord.  The  little  child 
may  glean  side  by  side  with  the  strong  man 
in  this  field :  opportunities  to  make  some  one 
happy  eagerly  improved;  faithfulness  in  busi- 
ness or  home  duties;  words  of  counsel  or  of 
comfort  spoken  in  season ;  considerateness  for 
others  as  it  may  be  shown  in  a  thousand  ways ; 
little  attentions  and  kindnesses;  the  sweet  al- 
lowances of  charity;  and  the  word  of  peace 
which  quiets  strife.  There  is  no  honest  place 
or  station  in  which  we  may  not  glorify  Christ  in 
a  service  of  love ;  and  a  life  in  which  every  day 
is  luminous  will  be  more  beautiful  than  the 
meteor-flash  of  some  showy  deed  which  goes 
out  in  blackness. 

We  have  thrown  into  contrast  also  the  unno- 
ticed and  the  conspicuous.    The  world  has  been 


128  STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 

blessed,  especially  in  these  latter  days,  with 
munificent  givers,  whose  lavish  benevolence  has 
blessed  whole  cities  and  won  the  admiration  of 
two  continents.  Shining  philanthropists,  too, 
have  adorned  history  in  the  persons  of  brave 
men  and  gentle  women,  who,  while  not  courting 
applause,  have  gone  down  into  plague-houses 
and  prisons,  and  upon  bloody  battle-fields,  to 
carry  light,  love,  and  healing.  The  names  of 
devoted  missionaries,  daring  persecution,  hard- 
ship, and  death  for  Christ's  sake,  are  also  fresh 
in  our  memories.  But  for  every  one  of  these 
whom  God  has  fitted  to  "  go  down  to  the  battle  " 
there  have  been  a  thousand,  with  hearts  as 
warm  and  consecrated  and  loving,  whom  cir- 
cumstances have  compelled  to  tarry  in  the 
household  and  the  shop :  mothers  grown  gray 
in  toiling,  watching,  enduring,  worn  with  the 
daily  dripping  of  home  cares,  untiring  in  min- 
istries of  love ;  mechanics  bound  to  the  anvil  or 
the  bench,  their  life  a  plodding,  wearisome 
routine,  and  yet  strong  in  character,  influential 
for  God  and  the  right,  and  serving  as  truly  by 
skill  and  faithfulness  in  the  daily  work  as  the 
preacher   by    his  preaching;    children   left   to 


STAYING  BY   THE  STUFF. 


129 


struggle  with  the  desolation  and  poverty  of 
orphanhood,  but  strong  in  the  promise,  "  When 
my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me,  then  the 
Lord  will  take  me  up";  merchants  thrown 
among  the  dangerous  eddies  of  the  money  cir- 
cle, involved  in  manifold  anxieties,  but  "  fervent 
in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord,"  manfully  standing 
for  the  truth  against  sceptical  opinions,  and 
steering  an  honest  course  through  subtle  temp- 
tations ;  helpers  in  irreligious  households,  faith- 
ful and  consistent  through  manifold  humiliations, 
patient  under  the  bitterest  of  all  persecutions, 
sharper  than  the  knife, — the  tyranny  of  the 
tongue, — that  which  an  apostle  calls  "trials  of 
cruel  mockings."  These  are  not  forgotten  be- 
fore God.  The  family,  the  school,  the  counting- 
house,  the  shop,  the  farm,  are  fields  which  may 
yield  as  rich  a  harvest  of  good  v/orks  and  precious 
influences  as  heathen  lands  to  the  missionary. 
They  demand  a  work  as  costly,  and  heroism  as 
great,  as  that  which  goes  into  the  prison  and 
onto  the  battle-field.  They  are  less  conspicu- 
ous ;  but  the  numberless  rills  which  flow  in  un- 
seen shady  places  are  quite  as  essential  as  rivers 
which  float  navies  on  their  bosoms. 


130 


STAYING  BY    THE  STUFF. 


We  enter  the  most  obscure  and  yet  the  most 
affecting  sphere  of  service  when  we  consider  the 
passive  contrasted  with  the  active.  It  is  easier 
to  do  than  to  suffer.  We  are  thankful  for  tlie 
little  bands  among  us  who  are  fellow-workers 
unto  the  kingdom  of  God.  Their  activity  is  a 
pastor's  comfort,  and  health  to  their  own  souls. 
But  activity  is  not  the  only  measure  of  service. 
It  would  be  better  for  some,  perhaps,  if  they 
withdrew  more  often  into  the  sanctuary  of  the 
still  hour,  and  bathed  their  strong  energies  in 
prayer  and  meditation.  There  are  passive 
graces  blooming  in  the  solitude  of  many  a  sick- 
room, hidden  from  the  world's  notice  like  fiow- 
ers  which  spread  their  beauty  and  fragrance  for 
God  only,  in  regions  where  no  human  eye  ever 
intrudes, —  which  are  seen  and  noted  by  the 
Father.  God  is  sublime  in  His  patience. 
Christ  was  never  more  divine  than  when,  under 
the  most  cruel  provocation  and  before  the  most 
insulting  accusations  ever  heaped  on  man,  "  He 
answered  never  a  word."  The  most  heroic 
service  of  His  life  was  in  that  moment  when  He 
cried,  "  Father,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 

To  be  enfeebled  or  deformed,  and  see  others 


STAYING   BY   THE  STUFF.  131 

straight  and  vigorous  and  useful ;  tofeelone's  self 
an  object  of  pity,  or  a  burden  and  unsightly  in 
the  eyes  of  our  fellows,  and  be  patient;  to  be 
laid  a  helpless  invalid  upon  a  bed  whose  rest 
becomes  torture,  and  hear  the  roar  of  the  busy 
world  outside,  the  merry  laugh  of  children,  the 
tread  of  many  feet  along  the  pavement ;  to  see 
the  free  sunlight  and  catch  glimpses  of  the  blue 
sky,  and  know  that  we  are  barred  out  from  them 
hopelessl}%  and  yet  be  cheerful,  trustful,  even 
happy, —  oh,  who  will  say  that  this  is  not  ser- 
vice—  service  acceptable  to  God,  wonderful  in 
the  sight  of  angels? 

I  think  of  one,  a  worn  and  wasted  figure,  who 
for  more  than  twenty  years  was  stretched  upon 
a  couch  of  pain.  Says  Dr.  Arnold,  speaking  of 
his  sister  (for  it  is  to  her  we  refer) :  "  I  never 
saw  a  more  perfect  instance  of  the  spirit  of 
power  and  of  love  and  of  a  sound  mind,  intense 
love  almost  to  the  annihilation  of  selfishness, 
sufTering  a  daily  martyrdom,  yet  of  herself 
wholly  thoughtless  (save  only  as  regarded  her 
ripening  in  all  goodness) ;  enjoying  everything 
lovely,  graceful,  beautiful,  high-minded,  whether 
in  God's  works  or  man's,  with  the  keenest  rel- 


STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 


ish ;  inheriting  the  earth  to  the  very  fuhiess  of 
the  promise,  though  never  leaving  her  bed  nor 
changing  her  posture;  and  preserved  through 
the  very  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  from  all 
fear  or  impatience  and  from  every  cloud  of  im- 
paired reason  which  might  mar  the  beauty  of 
Christ's  glorious  work.  May  God  grant,"  he 
adds,  "  that  I  may  come  but  within  one  hundred 
degrees  of  her  place  in  glory."  I  think  of  an- 
other, well  known  to  me.  For  more  than  half 
a  lifetime  she  was  a  helpless  cripple ;  the  move- 
ment of  a  finger  was  pain,  and  she  had  to  be 
carried  about  her  house  and  to  her  carriage  like 
a  child,  in  the  arms  of  an  attendant ;  but  never 
once  did  a  murmur  escape  her  lips.  She  was 
cheerful  almost  to  mirthfulness.  Her  soul  was 
luminous  with  the  life  and  peace  of  the  gospel, 
and  her  tongue  and  pen  eloquent,  and  never 
weary,  in  telling  the  good  news  to  others.  None 
came  within  her  influence,  even  for  an  hour, 
who  did  not  take  knowledge  of  her,  that  she 
had  "  been  with  Jesus."  Though  so  helpless, 
the  poor  were  reached  by  her,  an  institution 
reared  for  the  most  depraved  among  them  by 
her  zeal,  and  many  a  strong  man  was  put  to 


STAYING   BY   THE   STUFF.  133 

shame  by  the  fervency  with  which  that  one 
bent,  disfigured,  tortured  yet  happy  woman 
served  the  Master.  Similar  instances,  doubt- 
less, suggest  themselves  to  my  hearers.  The 
cheerful  submission  of  such  sufferers  is  a  silent 
gospel.  Who  can  fairly  estimate  their  patience, 
faith,  and  love,  and  fail  to  perceive  that 

"  They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait  "  ? 

Now,  to  this  wide  field  of  service,  compre- 
hending those  who  "  tarry  by  the  stuff  "  as  well 
as  those  who  "  go  down  to  the  battle,"  the  prin- 
ciple of  David's  ordinance  applies :  "  They  shall 
part  alike," 

We  estimate  deeds  by  their  magnitude  and 
quantity.  God  estimates  them  not  by  quantity, 
but  by  qualit}''.  He  is  not  won  by  noise  or 
show.  He  looks  at  the  spirit  of  our  deeds. 
Their  merit  is  determined  by  the  faith  of  which 
they  are  the  expression  and  the  love  which 
moves  them.  They  called  it  a  waste  when 
Mary,  out  of  the  fulness  of  her  loving  heart, 
poured  the  precious  ointment  upon  Jesus'  head ; 
but  He  said  :  "  She  hath  done  what  she  could  "  ; 
and,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Wheresoever  this 


STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 


gospel  shall  be  preached  throughout  the  world, 
this  also  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of 
her." 

The  outer  court  of  the  temple,  in  which  stood 
a  brazen  chest  inviting  the  offerings  of  the 
people,  was  once  thronged  with  those  who  had 
come  up  to  the  feast.  In  a  retired  place,  where 
He  could  rest  Himself  and  watch  the  passing 
throng,  sat  a  quiet  observer.  The  rich  and  the 
great  swept  over  the  marble  pavements  and 
cast  in  largely  of  their  abundance.  As  their 
gifts  fell,  they  rang  out  the  givers'  praise,  and 
a  look  of  proud  satisfaction  gleamed  over  their 
faces,  and  the  bystanders  said,  "  What  liberal- 
ity !  "  But  there  came  a  meanly  attired  woman. 
She  crept  shrinking  up  to  the  box, — she  would 
have  hid  herself  if  she  could, —  and  dropped  in 
noiselessly  two  mites — the  merest  trifle,  but  it 
was  all  that  day's  living.  She  passed  out  un- 
noticed, or  noticed  only  to  be  despised,  save  by 
that  one  quiet  observer.  He  called  His  com- 
panions to  Him,  and  pointing  to  her  said: 
"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  This  poor  widow  hath 
cast  in  more  than  they  all." 

That  observer  was  God  in  Christ,  measuring 


STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 


135 


a  deed  by  its  interior  principle.  He  teaches  us 
how  vast  a  trifling  act  may  be.  The  world  has 
crowns  for  those  who  make  a  noise  and  a  show ; 
but  before  God  "  there  are  first  who  shall  be 
last,  and  there  are  last  who  shall  be  first."  It 
is  the  world  of  thought  and  motive  which  lies 
open  to  His  eye,  and  His  benediction  rests  upon 
faithfulness  in  every  condition.  We  may  make 
the  commonest  tasks  illustrious  by  doing  them 
in  His  fear  and  to  His  glory.  It  is  one  of  the 
divinest  features  of  the  gospel  that  it  strikes 
through  those  flimsy  eff"ects  which  dazzle  and 
deceive  men,  and,  waking  up  the  buried  man- 
hood which  is  in  us,  bids  us  be  great  by  what 
we  are,  and  not  by  what  we  wear  and  have  and 
seem.  It  sets  before  us  the  praise  of  God  as 
the  grand  goal  to  be  attained,  and  that  is  won 
by  no  rank,  purchased  by  no  wealth,  but  open 
to  every  condition,  the  reward  of  the  faithful. 

If,  then,  we  are  hemmed  in  by  circumstances 
which  leave  us  only  quiet,  ordinary  work  to  do, 
let  us  carry  the  spirit  of  the  Master  into  it  and 
by  intense  faithfulness  make  it  Christian  work. 
If  our  station  does  not  adorn  us,  we  may  adorn 
our  station.     It  is  by  going  on  in  just  that  line 


136  STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 

of  things  wherein  we  stand  that  the  Lord  would 
have  every  department  of  Hfe  reached  and 
leavened,  and  so,  too,  we  prove  ourselves 
worthy  of  grander  things  and  pass  into  wider 
spheres  ;  as  David,  faithful  as  the  shepherd  boy, 
and  Joseph,  true  to  God  as  Pharaoh's  slave, 
mounted  at  last  to  thrones. 

And  this  is  the  sort  of  demonstration  which 
the  world  needs  now.  The  battle  for  the  his- 
toric truth  of  the  gospel  has  been  fought.  The 
times  demand  a  vivid  exhibition  of  the  power 
of  the  living  Christ  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of 
men.  Preachers  and  scholars  alone  cannot  give 
to  the  age  the  argument  which  shall  be  most 
potent  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 
It  must  come  from  the  store  and  the  counting- 
house,  the  workshop,  the  factory,  and  the 
family.  It  must  be  the  product  of  faithfulness 
in  those  that  stay  "  by  the  stuff  "  as  well  as  in 
those  that  "  go  down  to  the  battle." 

"  They  shall  part  alike."  Yes ;  when  the  bat- 
tle is  over,  the  victory  won,  and  all  the  ransomed 
marshalled  upon  the  plains  of  heaven,  the  ear- 
nest Paul  will  scarce  outshine  in  glory  the  lov- 
ing Mary ;  I  do  not  think  that  the  holy  Samuel 


STAYING  BY   THE  STUFF. 


137 


will  wear  a  richer  diadem  than  the  faithful 
Hannah;  the  saints  of  Caesar's  household  will 
receive  as  hearty  a  "  Well  done!"  as  the  noble 
army  of  martyrs.  The  one  test  will  be,  "  Have 
you  improved  the  talents,  be  they  little  or  much, 
which  I  committed  to  you  ?  Have  you  done 
what  you  could?  "  Only  be  sure  and  live  for 
God.  Any  other  life  is  unworthy  of  you.  He 
calls  you  first  of  all  to  believe  on  His  Son  Jesus 
Christ ;  believing,  you  have  life ;  and  living,  you 
love ;  and  loving,  you  do  Him  grateful  service. 
Do  not  be  satisfied  with  the  world's  praise. 
There  are  short  roads  to  popularity  and  fame. 
You  may  live  to  win  them  and  have  your  re- 
ward. But  your  life  will  have  been  a  mere 
stage  effect :  a  brief  hour  before  a  fickle  audi- 
ence, the  transient  applause,  and  the  curtain 
falls ;  the  scenes  are  folded  up.  You  have 
performed  your  part  and  had  your  rev/ard.  But 
you  have  done  nothing  real.  The  light  of  eter- 
nity reveals  the  bare  beams,  the  tawdry  decora- 
tions, the  pulleys,  and  the  paint.  You  stand 
before  your  God  as  you  are,  not  as  you  seemed 
to  be.  He  reckons  with  your  thoughts,  your 
motives — in  a  word,  your  character.    Disguises 


138  STAYING  BY  THE  STUFF. 

are  stripped  off.  Your  real  self  is  laid  bare. 
You  gained  a  corruptible  crown  which  turned  to 
dust  upon  your  brow,  but  you  have  lost  the 
incorruptible  crown  of  God's  favour,  which  is  life 
everlasting. 

Whatever,  then,  your  condition,  be  it  wealth 
or  poverty,  weakness  or  strength,  youth  or  old 
age,  enlightenment  or  ignorance,  begin  just 
where  you  are  (so  that  it  be  an  honest  place)  to 
live  for  God.  Have  no  fears  for  the  issue. 
"  The  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to 
the  strong";  "but  as  his  part  is  that  goeth 
down  to  the  battle,  so  shall  his  part  be  that  tar- 
rieth  by  the  stuff:  they  shall  part  alike." 


VIII. 

jBtt^  d^oD  Care? 


VIII. 
DOES    GOD    CARE? 

And  they  awake  Him,  and  say  wito  Him,  Master, 
carest  TJiou  not  that  we  perish? —  '&x.  Mark  iv.  38. 

THE  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  been  preaching 
to  the  multitude  on  the  western  shore  of 
the  Lake  of  GaHlee.  This  lake,  or  sea,  as  it 
was  called,  though  only  thirteen  miles  long,  and 
six  miles  wide  in  its  broadest  part,  was  a  busy- 
place  in  His  time.  Its  waters  abounded  in  fish 
of  all  kinds.  Two  of  the  many  villages  which 
thronged  its  borders  derived  their  names  from 
the  fisheries.  Bethsaida  (signifying  "  the  house 
of  fisheries")  was  the  home  of  Philip  and  An- 
drew and  Simon.  All  of  these  villages  sent 
forth  their  hardy  fishermen  by  hundreds  over 
the  lake.  When,  in  addition  to  these,  we 
imagine  the  busy  ship-builders,  and  the  many 
boats  of  traffic,  pleasure,  and  passage  which 
were  moving  upon  it,  and  then  the  beach  at  the 
141 


142  DOES   GOD   CARE? 

base  of  green  mountain  slopes,  sparkling  with 
the  houses  and  palaces,  the  synagogues  and 
temples,  of  the  Jewish  or  Roman  inhabitants,  it 
is  easy  to  realise  that  the  whole  scene  was  full 
of  life,  enterprise,  and  energy.  It  was  along 
this  sandy  beach,  which  completely  encircles 
the  Lake  of  Galilee,  that  the  people  thronged 
to  hear  Christ,  and  often  followed  Him  when 
He  sought  to  retire  in  a  fisherman's  boat  to  the 
other  side.  The  other  or  eastern  side  of  the 
lake  was  an  unfrequented  region,  broken  by 
deep  ravines,  and  inviting  to  rest  upon  its  green, 
grassy  uplands.  He  had,  it  would  seem  from 
St.  Mark's  story,  been  speaking  to  the  crowd 
from  one  of  the  boats  moored  just  off  the 
beach.  All  day  He  had  taught  them  "  many 
things  by  parables."  The  same  day,  when  even 
was  come,  He  said  to  His  fisher  friends:  "  Let 
us  pass  over  unto  the  other  side."  They  took 
Him,  "  even  as  He  was  in  the  ship,"  and  made 
sail  for  the  wilder  region  on  the  eastern  coast. 
Worn  out,  He  sank  down  upon  the  helmsman's 
cushions  at  the  stern  of  the  boat,  and  fell  asleep. 
The  sky  darkened,  and  through  one  of  those 
deep  ravines  which  break  through  the  hills  to 


DOES  GOD  C/.RB>  143 

the  shore  a  thunder-gust  swept  upon  the  frail 
craft.  Every  one  who  is  famiUar  with  such 
waters  knows  how  suddenly  these  squalls  come, 
and  how  quickly  a  threatening  sea  rolls  up. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  slept  calmly  on  through 
the  plunging  of  the  boat  and  the  wild,  drench- 
ing sweep  of  the  waves  which  began  to  fill  it. 
"  Master,"  cried  the  disciples,  "  carest  Thou  not 
that  we  perish?  "  We  might  suppose  that  this 
cry  v/as  only  an  instinctive  effort  to  arouse  One 
whom  they  loved  to  a  sense  of  their  common 
danger,  were  it  not  for  the  appeal  which  seems, 
according  to  the  other  evangelists,  to  have  been 
mingled  with  it:  "Lord,  save  us,"  They  evi- 
dently expected  help  from  Him,  and  wondered 
that  He  could  sleep  through  such  a  storm.  He 
awoke,  and  rebuked  the  wind,  and  said  unto  the 
sea,  "  Peace,  be  still  "  ;  and  the  wind  ceased,  and 
there  was  a  great  calm.  Then  He  turned  to 
the  disciples,  and  the  remarkable  fact  is,  that 
instead  of  commending  them  for  "  caUing  upon 
Him  in  the  time  of  trouble,"  He  reproved  them, 
saying,  "  Why  are  ye  so  fearful  ?  how  is  it 
that  ye  have  no  faith?"  He  turned  from  the 
stilling  of  wind  and  wave  to  the  tempest  of  fear 


144 


DOES   COD   CARE> 


in  their  souls,  and  rebuked  it  as  something  more 
perilous  and  more  difficult  to  subdue  than  the 
raging  of  the  sea. 

The  prayer  to  Him  in  their  moment  of  peril, 
"  Lord,  save  us,"  was  certainly  an  expression 
of  faith.  Why,  then,  did  He  reprove  them  for 
lack  of  faith?  The  point  is  that  He  would  have 
had  them  trust  Him  without  a  miracle  to  attest 
His  power.  They  were  fearful  when  it  should 
have  been  enough  that  He  was  with  them  in  the 
ship.  It  was  a  very  weak  faith,  from  His  stand- 
point, that  could  be  terrified  by  mere  physical 
dangers.  He  would  have  had  them  serenely 
confident  through  storm  or  calm,  sinking  or 
surviving,  living  or  dying.  It  was  too  much  to 
expect  of  poor  human  nature  then.  The  disci- 
ples learned  the  lesson  later  when  a  new  Spirit 
had  entered  into  them.  The  purpose  of  His 
reproof  was  to  teach  them  and  us  that  God 
cares,  even  though  He  may  not  work  miracles 
to  save  us  from  the  present  storm. 

Does  God  care?  That  is  the  question  which 
the  incident  brings  vividly  before  us.  There  is 
no  greater  need,  I  venture  to  say,  for  every  one 
of  us,  in  this  changeable,  storm-swept  world, 


DOES   GOD   CAREY 


J45 


than  to  know  that  God  cares.  It  may  be  a 
matter  of  indifference,  even,  whether  there  be  a 
God  or  not,  to  the  young  and  strong  and  pros- 
perous, whose  skies  are  cloudless,  and  under 
whose  keel  the  waters  babble  gaily,  while  hope 
with  soft,  fragrant  breezes  fills  the  sails.  But 
the  world  is  not  like  that  all  the  day.  Changes 
come  before  the  eventide.  For  the  multitude, 
the  story  of  the  voyage  is  a  tale  of  angry  clouds 
and  toiling  in  rowing,  and  the  psalmist's  cry, 
"  All  Thy  waves  and  Thy  billows  have  gone 
over  me."  To  the  struggling,  sorrow-tossed 
multitude  the  question  of  an  invisible  Father 
caring  and  working  for  our  good  through  all  the 
seeming  evil  is  vital  and  related  to  our  deepest 
needs.  We  need  no  stronger  evidence  than  the 
records  of  despair  and  then  suicide  which  daily 
meet  our  view.  It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  in 
the  progress  of  the  world  or  society  in  general 
that  there  is,  as  in  nature,  an  ordering  purpose, 
evolving  some  ultimate  good  out  of  the  seeming 
chaos.  But  it  is  not  of  the  general  development 
that  you  and  I  care  to  hear.  Does  God,  if  there 
be  a  God,  care  for  me?  That  is  the  question 
which  voices  itself  in  the  deep  silence  of  my 


146  DOES   GOD   CARE? 

soul,  and  it  is  fraught  with  tremendous  impor- 
tance in  its  bearing  on  my  character  and  happi- 
ness and  destiny. 

We  were  made  for  sympathy,  just  as  we  were 
made  dependent  upon  this  atmosphere  in  which 
we  breathe  and  hve.  The  hmits  of  our  physi- 
cal being  are  very  narrow  indeed.  A  few  miles 
above  the  earth,  as  you  know,  we  should  cease 
to  be ;  and  there  is  only  a  grave  for  us  beneath 
its  surface.  As  our  bodies  exist  only  in  this 
special  atmosphere,  with  its  certain  range  of 
temperature  and  balance  of  elements,  so  our 
intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  being  exists  and 
is  tolerable  only  in  the  social  or  sympathetic 
condition.  Men  may  scorn  the  expression  of 
a  craving  for  sympathy  as  weak,  and  be  too 
proud  to  admit  their  need  of  it;  but  the  fact 
remains  that  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being  in  it.  No  punishment  can  be  inflicted 
upon  a  man  more  terrible  than  solitary  confine- 
ment. Shut  out  from  the  society  of  his  fellows, 
his  starved  mind  gnaws  upon  itself,  and  he 
becomes  a  maniac  or  an  imbecile.  Suddenly 
eliminate  from  human  life  all  that  comes  to  us 
from  association  with  our  kind  in  business  and 


DOES   GOD   CARE?  147 

in  pleasure,  in  our  home  relations,  in  the  warm 
glow  of  friendship,  in  the  touch  of  mind  with 
mind,  and  what  have  you  left?  Frozen  clods, 
just  as  if  the  radiant  energy  of  the  sun's  heat 
died  out  of  our  atmosphere. 

But  human  sympathy  does  not  reach  and 
satisfy  the  deepest  needs  of  our  being.  There 
are  experiences,  known  to  every  thoughtful  man 
and  woman,  in  which  we  must  either  get  breath 
from  God  or  stifle  in  our  loneliness ;  experiences 
into  which  our  best  friends  cannot  enter,  which 
may  not  be  described,  which  could  not  be  un- 
derstood. Every  one  of  us,  far  back  in  the 
secrecy  of  his  own  self-consciousness,  is  alone 
with  griefs  that  cannot  be  told  ;  with  disappointed 
loves  or  ambitions ;  with  a  bitter  sense  of  mis- 
judgment  or  an  agony  of  regrets  for  a  past 
which  cannot  be  recalled ;  with  secret  sins  that 
tear  at  the  conscience,  though  we  smile  among 
our  fellows ;  with  the  throbbing  pain  of  bereave- 
ments which  no  balsam  of  earth  can  heal ;  with 
the  gathering  gloom  and  isolation  of  the  thought 
that  old  age  is  fast  settling  into  the  chill  night 
of  death  around  us ;  with  doubts  and  fears  to- 
wards God  and  eternity,  and  hate  and  distrust, 


148  DOES   GOD   CARE? 

perhaps,  towards  our  fellow-men.  Worse  than 
soUtary  confinement  in  the  dungeon  of  a  prison 
is  the  state  of  that  man  who,  without  hope  to- 
wards God,  is  shut  up  to  the  brooding,  spectre- 
haunted  loneliness  of  his  own  soul.  Jesus 
Christ  sounded  the  lowest  deep  of  human  woe 
when  for  a  moment,  hanging  upon  the  cross, 
He  lost  that  which  had  sustained  Him  through 
all  His  lonely  ministry  on  earth,  and  cried  out 
in  His  agony,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  me?"  What  is  there  for  us  in 
the  loneliness  of  guilt,  if  we  have  no  faith  to 
pray,  "God  be  merciful  to  mea  sinner"  ? — in  the 
loneliness  of  sorrow,  if  we  have  no  confiding 
sense  of  One  who  can  be  touched,  and  who  is 
working  as  a  Father  for  our  good  ? — in  the  lone- 
liness of  pain,  if  we  cannot  get  breath  to  cry, 
"God  helpme"  ? — in  the  loneliness  of  the  world's 
misjudgments,  if  we  cannot  turn  to  One  who 
knows  the  heart  and  judges  righteously? — in  the 
loneliness  of  age,  and  then  of  death,  if  we  have 
not  the  faith  which  looks  onward  with  hope  to 
the  new  day,  and  sings,  "  I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  I  awake  with  Thy  likeness"? 

I  have  tried  to  illustrate  the  very  great  im- 


DOES   GOD   CIRH? 


149 


portance  of  the  question,  Does  God  care?  I 
must  pass  to  the  point  which  is  the  essence  of 
the  whole  matter,  and  which  is  so  strikingly 
shown  in  the  story  of  the  stilling  of  the  tem- 
pest. It  IS  110  evidence  that  God  does  not  care 
because  He  sleeps  ivJiile  ive  scent  to  be  perisJiing. 
This  was  the  truth  which  the  disciples  had  not 
faith  enough  to  perceive,  and  which  He  reproved 
them  for  not  perceiving.  We  think,  as  the  dis- 
ciples did,  that  it  would  be  a  supreme  evidence 
of  the  being  of  a  God,  and  the  reality  of  His 
care,  if  He  would  always  show  Himself  awake 
by  some  direct  answer  to  our  cry  for  deliverance 
from  pain,  loss,  danger,  or  death.  Assuming 
that  the  purpose  of  the  Creator,  in  our  being, 
were  to  care  for  our  bodies  and  their  develop- 
ment in  all  material  good,  we  might  expect  mate- 
rial deliverances.  We  might  naturally  say  in  our 
hearts,  "There  is  no  God,"  if  no  answer  came 
to  our  call  for  help.  But  the  purpose  of  the 
Creator  in  us  is  not  our  mere  physical  well- 
being.  We  are  body,  mind,  and  spirit.  The 
body  is  only  the  base  of  a  temple  whose  special 
beauty  is  in  the  parts  which  rise  above  the  earth. 
It  is  evident  to  the  feeblest  intelligence  that  a 


ISO 


DOES   GOD   CARE? 


wise  and  good  Creator  could  not  grant  every 
wish  of  a  creature  limited  in  knowledge  and 
capacity.  The  relation  is  the  familiar  one  of 
parent  and  child.  The  child  must  often  cry  for 
that  which  the  parent,  in  his  wisdom-  and  love, 
cannot  grant. 

But  there  is  more  to  be  said  than  this.  If 
the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life,  and  if  we  are  ca- 
pable of  almost  infinite  development  towards 
that  life  in  mind  and  spirit,  then  the  supreme 
evidence  of  God's  care  must  be,  not  the  mere 
stilling  of  tempests  and  healing  of  diseases,  but 
the  presence  of  His  power  in  our  souls  to  calm 
the  raging  of  our  passions  and  our  fears,  and  to 
breathe  upon  us  the  peace  which  passeth  all 
understanding.  Now,  to  bring  us  this  supreme 
evidence  of  God's  care,  Christ  came  into  the 
world, — "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh," — lived, 
taught,  suflfered,  died,  and  rose  again.  "  In 
this,"  says  St.  John,  "  was  manifested  the  love 
of  God  towards  us,  because  that  God  sent  His 
only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might 
live  through  Him."  He  did  not  come  into  the 
world  to  be  merely  the  physician  of  our  bodies, 
and  to  multiply  our  loaves  and  fishes,  and  to 


DOES   GOD   C/tRE? 


I5X 


save  us  from  physical  death.  The  "  Peace,  be 
still  "  to  that  tempest  on  the  Lake  of  Galilee 
v/as  only  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  the  in- 
ward and  spiritual  purpose  which  He  would 
work  out  in  our  souls.  It  is  a  striking  fact  that 
our  Lord  never  wrought  a  miracle  to  help  Him- 
self or  to  satisfy  His  own  physical  needs.  The 
tempter  found  Him  hungry  after  the  long  fast- 
ing, and  said :  "  If  Thou  be  the  Son  of  God, 
command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread." 
He  answered  :  "  It  is  written,  Man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  cut  of  the  mouth  of  God."  He  would 
not  allow  the  transient  suffering  of  hunger  to 
force  from  Him  an  exercise  of  divine  power 
which  would  have  been,  on  His  human  side,  as 
the  tempter  knew,  distrust  of  God's  care.  He 
might,  as  He  said,  have  called  down  twelve 
legions  of  angels  to  help  Him  in  the  garden  of 
His  agony ;  but  the  faith  of  a  perfect  manhood 
showed  itself  in  this  patient  cry :  "  Father,  if  it 
be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass :  nevertheless,  not 
as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt."  How  entirely 
human  He  was  in  His  shrinking  from  the  cruel 
pain  which  was  before  Him !      But  the  cup  did 


152 


DOES   GOD   CARE? 


not  pass.  He  had  to  drain  it  to  the  very  dregs. 
He  did  not,  however,  question  the  wisdom  or 
the  love  which  was  silent  when  He  seemed  to 
be  perishing.  The  disciples  thought  all  would 
be  lost  if  their  ship  went  down.  His  ship  went 
down  in  the  storm  of  Gethsemane,  but  all  was 
not  lost.  He  triumphed  through  that  which  we 
call  perishing.  It  was  no  evidence  to  Him,  you 
see,  that  God  did  not  care  because  He  slept 
while  Christ  seemed  to  be  perishing.  He  did 
not  judge  of  His  Father's  love  by  the  material 
help  which  He  gave,  but  by  that  conscious, 
abiding,  spiritual  power  which  enabled  Him  to 
say,  "Thy  will  be  done." 

Now  it  is  precisely  so  that  we,  in  the  light 
of  the  resurrection,  and  of  God's  purpose  to  lift 
us  out  of  an  earthly  habit  into  an  undying  life 
of  the  Spirit,  are  to  judge  of  God's  care.  It  is 
no  evidence  that  He  does  not  care  because  He 
permits  us  to  suffer.  There  is  love  in  the  suf- 
fering. Trials  must  be.  They  begin  with  the 
tottering  steps  of  the  child,  who  through  many 
a  fall  learns  to  walk,  and  through  many  a  pain- 
ful experience  with  cuts  and  burns  and  bruises 
learns  to  live.     They  are  necessary  incidents 


DOES  GOD  CARE?  153 

of  an  imperfect  human  condition.  Time  and 
space  and  the  restrictions  of  the  flesh  harness 
upon  us  the  hard  necessities  of  toil,  struggle, 
study,  pain,  weariness,  sickness,  and  then  death. 
Many  of  them  we  bring  upon  us  by  our  own 
fault.  But  through  these  incidents  of  our 
environment  we  learn  to  subdue  the  lower  and 
reach  to  the  higher.  Mind  overcomes  matter, 
manhood  in  its  distinctive  nobleness  is  devel- 
oped, and  so  it  is  all  along  the  line  up  to  the 
spiritual.  We  "  learn  obedience,"  as  Christ 
did,  "  by  the  things  which  we  suflfer."  Experi- 
ence which  comes  through  suffering  teaches  us 
that  to  obey  God,  as  He  reveals  Himself  in 
nature,  in  our  consciences,  and  in  Christ,  is  the 
way  to  life.  Faith  is  a  necessity  (not  intellec- 
tual belief,  but  personal  trust  in  the  invisible 
Father),  because  we  cannot  see  the  end  nor 
pierce  to  the  eternal  blue  through  the  earth- 
born  clouds  which  overshadow  us.  The  worst 
trial  of  all  —  death  —  which  seems  to  us  to  be 
perishing,  is,  in  the  light  of  God's  truth,  not 
perishing,  but  a  passing  into  life.  He  has 
mercifully  sent  Christ  to  teach  us  this.  There 
may  be  infinite  love,  therefore,  in  the  bereave- 


154 


DOES   COD   CARE? 


ments  which  break  up  our  earthly  ties,  and  the 
final  event  in  which  we  seem  to  be  perishing  may 
be  only  a  happy  flight  from  the  cage.  I  think- 
nearly  all  of  those  fishermen  disciples  who  were 
so  terrified  by  the  storm  on  the  Lake  of  Galilee 
passed  through  the  cruel  suffering  of  a  martyr's 
death.  No  help  came  to  them,  but  they  did  not 
cry,  "  Lord,  save,  or  we  perish."  They  knew 
better  then.  They  knew  that  God's  care  is  not 
to  stay  the  course  of  suffering  or  death,  but 
through  it  to  make  us  know  that  there  is  a  life 
beyond,  and  through  faith,  hope,  patience,  ex- 
perience, purity,  truth,  and  love  to  educate  us 
for  it. 

The  man  who  quarrels  with  his  environment 
and  will  not  heed  its  lessons,  nor  reach  on  to 
the  life  towards  which  they  point,  is  lost.  He 
yields  himself  to  the  present  and  the  sensual. 
He  comes  under  the  fierce  power  of  his  passions. 
All  the  splendid  possibilities  of  his  intellectual 
and  spiritual  being,  like  some  richly  freighted 
vessel  driving  uncontrolled  upon  a  rocky  shore, 
are  in  danger  of  perishing.  Yes!  there  are 
storms  and  a  shipwreck  possible  within  you, 
infinitely  more  to  be  dreaded  and  more  difficult 


DOES  GOD  CARES'  155 

to  subdue  than  any  blast  which  might  wreck 
the  body.  If  the  trial  of  your  life  is  a  body 
wronged  by  excesses,  by  dissipation,  by  drink, 
by  sensuality,  broken  down,  feeble,  racked  with 
pain,  do  not  doubt  God's  love  because,  when 
you  cry,  "  God,  help  me!  "  in  your  misery.  He 
does  not  by  a  miracle  restore  your  diseased 
body.  He  would  be  a  party  to  your  sin  if  He 
did.  You  must  look  for  His  care  in  the  peace 
and  pardon  which  He  would  speak  to  your  soul. 
The  suflfering  of  the  body  is  the  sharp  discipline 
which  would  drive  you  back  to  Him,  and  happy 
is  the  man  who  bears  it  patiently  and  learns  the 
lesson.  It  is  in  this  case,  as  in  every  other,  no 
evidence  that  God  does  not  care  because  He 
sleeps  while  we  seem  to  be  perishing ;  rather  is 
it  an  evidence  of  His  love. 

I  ask  you,  in  conclusion,  to  look  at  Christ 
asleep  on  the  pillozu  while  the  storm  darkened 
and  the  waves  came  surging  into  the  plunging 
vessel.  The  timid  sleep  lightly  and  wake  at 
the  least  alarm.  The  guilty  dream  and  start. 
Christ  was  neither  timid  nor  guilty.  His  Father 
was  with  Him  waking,  and  like  a  child  He 
slept,  with  no  shadow  of  fear  on  His  soul.     He 


156  DOES  GOD  CARE? 

was  human  in  His  weariness,  and  He  is  our 
human  example  in  the  perfect  calm  of  His 
repose.  When  they  awoke  Him,  He  arose,  not 
with  terror  in  His  look,  but  only  surprise  that 
they  should  be  fearful.  An  ordinary  man  would 
have  sprung  to  his  feet  startled,  and  rebuked 
his  crew  for  not  waking  him  before.  This  ex- 
traordinary man  arose  in  the  majestic  conscious- 
ness of  superiority  to  the  raging  elements,  and, 
commanding  them  to  be  still,  they  obeyed  Him. 
I  think  that  this  whole  scene  of  the  reposing 
and  the  storm-stilling  Christ  is  a  parable  of  the 
repose  and  the  control  which  He  has  made 
possible  for  us  in  our  relation  to  the  stormy 
elements  of  the  present  evil  world.  The  dif- 
ference between  our  Lord  and  His  disciples  in 
that  hour  of  trial  on  Galilee  was  this:  the  dis- 
ciples were  in  mind  and  spirit  under  the  dom.in- 
ion  of  the  wild  elements,  and  cried,  "  Save,  or 
we  perish";  the  Christ  was  in  mind  and  spirit 
superior  to  these  elements,  and  knew  that  if 
they  did  their  worst  they  could  not  wreck  the 
life  which  was  in  Him.  To  them  death  seemed 
the  end  of  all.  To  Him  death  was  only  the 
breaking  from  a  chrysalis  state  into  the  winged 


DOBS  GOD   CARE? 


157 


life  of  an  endless  summer  day.  This  is  the  sal- 
vation which  Christ  brings,  and  the  supreme 
evidence  of  God's  love,  that  it  is  made  possi- 
ble for  every  one  of  us  through  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  live  in  calm  superiority  to 
every  threatening  element  of  time.  The  man 
who  has  no  trust  in  any  word  or  will  of  God 
from  beyond  time  is  like  the  disciples  under  the 
earth-born  clouds.  He  sees  in  death,  and  in  all 
the  various  incidents,  accidents,  and  ailments 
which  lead  to  it,  only  perishing.  He  loses  all 
when  the  body  fails.  There  is  no  hope  nor 
comfort  in  the  suffering  which  surges  round 
him  when  the  property,  friends,  amusements, 
or  other  objects  which  minister  to  the  body  fail. 
Save  him  from  loss,  grief,  pain,  death,  or  he 
perishes.  These  to  him  are  absolute  evils. 
There  is  no  merciful  purpose  in  them ;  neither 
is  there  anything  beyond  them. 

The  man  who  believes  is,  like  Christ,  superior 
to  the  storm.  "This  is  the  victory,"  says  St. 
John,  "  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our 
faith."  Why  faith,  faith,  always  faith,  do  you 
say?  The  simple  answer  is,  that  it  is  faith 
which  trusts  where  we  cannot  see,  and  reahses 


158  DOES  COD   CARE} 

the  power  and  presence  of  the  Invisible.  We 
may  not  expect  God  to  still  the  winds  and  the 
waves  which  threaten  us  as  we  cross  the  turbu- 
lent ocean ;  but  we  may  be  fearless  and  calm 
in  the  confidence  that  the  very  worst  that  they 
can  do  cannot  destroy  us.  These  and  other 
physical  dangers  we  may  not  be  able  to  subdue  ; 
but  we  may,  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  forbid  that 
they  should  subdue  us.  To  kill  the  body  is 
nothing,  if  there  is  an  indestructible  life  of  the 
spirit  within  it.  We  come  under  the  power 
of  physical  ills  only  when  we  allow  our  spirits 
to  be  made  afraid  by  them,  and  our  hold  of 
God  and  of  His  truth  to  be  shaken  loose,  and 
the  darkness  of  despair  to  settle  down  upon  us. 
We  may  not  expect  that  God  will  uniformly 
work  miracles  of  healing  for  us  in  answer  to 
our  prayers,  though  the  prayer  of  faith  may 
save  the  sick ;  but  far  more  important,  a  greater 
blessing  which  He  will  surely  grant  to  those 
who  seek,  and  which  He  seeks  to  give,  is  the 
saving  of  our  souls  from  that  clinging  to  the 
flesh  which  makes  sickness  and  old  age  and 
death-beds  terrible.  The  real  victory  over  pain, 
sickness,  and  old  age  is  to  be  seen  in  that  man 


DOES  GOD   CARE?  159 

or  woman  of  whom,  in  the  words  of  an  apostle, 
it  may  be  said,  "though  the  outward  man  is  de- 
caying, the  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day." 
But  why  do  I  talk  any  more  of  the  body 
and  its  pains  and  trials  and  inevitable  decay? 
Christ's  miracles  were  simply  the  bringing  back 
of  the  perfect  and  natural  order  into  the  unnatu- 
ral disorder  of  a  sin-cursed  world.  They  said  : 
"  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the 
wind  and  the  sea  obey  Him?"  He  has  put  it 
in  our  power  to  do  a  greater  work  than  this. 
What  matter  a  few  years  of  sufTering  in  the 
flesh,  and  then  death,  if  our  souls  are  saved 
from  the  eternal  death  which  comes  by  sin? 
The  storm  we  have  to  fear  is  that  which  springs 
from  our  selfish  and  sensual  passions.  The 
victory  which  He  would  give  is  the  power  to 
keep  under  our  bodies  and  bring  them  into 
subjection.  The  manhood  which  is  possible 
for  us  is  a  manhood  like  His,  which,  though  it 
may  feel  the  strain  of  temptation,  is  so  strong 
in  the  consciousness  of  a  higher  life  and  its 
thoughts,  hopes,  loves,  studies,  pursuits,  that  it 
bids  the  winds  of  passion  and  the  raging  of 
bodily  appetites  and  fears  be  still,  and  they  obey. 


i6o  DOES   GOD   CARE? 

If  your  manhood  is  only  secular,  present,  animal, 
—  only  in  the  body  and  its  conditions, —  then  all 
goes  down  when  the  body  sinks.  Whatever 
survives  the  wreck  must  be  a  pitiful  lost  thing, 
a  vagrant  in  the  spiritual  world  of  purity,  love, 
and  God. 

Does  God  care  ?  Yes ;  He  cares  so  much 
that  He  will  not  make  the  present  transient 
period  of  existence  easy  for  us.  He  cares  so 
much  that  He  forces  us  to  realise  that  this  is 
not  our  rest.  How  blind  we  are  not  to  see 
that  this  is  the  meaning  of  our  trials !  He  cares 
so  much  that  He  would  not  still  our  mere  out- 
ward tempests,  but  would  enable  every  one 
of  us  to  be  the  stiller  of  the  tempest  of  sin 
in  our  souls;  so  that,  in  the  strength  of  His 
presence  and  power,  we  may  defy  death,  and 
through  all  life's  discipline  develop  the  char- 
acter which  belongs  to  heaven  and  shall  survive 
the  wreck  of  worlds.  There  will  be  no  need 
of  mere  physical  miracles  when  the  earth  has 
dissolved  and  the  perfect  order  reigns,  for  we 
read  in  the  Revelation  that  there  shall  be  "  no 
more  sea,  .  .  .  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying." 
**  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any 


DOES   COD   CARE?  i6i 

more ;  the  sun  shall  not  light  on  them,  nor  any 
heat."  "  The  inhabitant  shall  no  more  say,  I 
am  sick."  "All  tears  shall  be  wiped  away; 
and  there  shall  be  no  more  death."  One  mir- 
acle shall  remain,  the  miracle  of  the  redeemed 
soul,  the  miracle  of  the  man  or  woman  who  has 
overcome  sin,  the  flesh,  and  the  world.  These 
shall  form  the  white-robed  company  before 
whom  the  angels  stand  wondering,  "  who  came 
out  of  great  tribulation,  and  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 


IX. 

€]fte  Cemple  of  (lI5oD  in  W. 


IX. 
THE   TEMPLE   OF   GOD  IN    US. 

Knoiv  ye  not  that  ye  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  divelkth  i?i  you?  If  any  tnan 
defile  the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy; 
for  the  temple  of  God  is  holy,  which  temple  ye  are. 
— I  Cor.  iii.  i6,  17. 

THESE  strong  words  were  addressed  to  the 
church  at  Corinth.  This  church  was 
simply  the  body  or  congregation  of  behevers  in 
that  busy  commercial  city. 

Human  nature  is  the  same  in  all  ages,  and 
the  church  at  Corinth  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago  was  remarkably  like  the  church  at  Washing- 
ton or  any  other  locality  to-day.  It  was  far 
from  being  a  temple  of  God  in  fact.  The  very 
purpose  of  St.  Paul's  epistle  was  to  quiet  party 
strifes,  reprove  gross  immoralities,  correct  errors 
of  faith  and  practice,  and  bring  back  members 
of  the  church  from  a  secularism,  sensuality,  and 
165 


i66  THE  TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US. 

formalism  which  were  polluting  the  sanctuary 
of  God.  He  does  not  attempt  to  judge  between 
the  parties  which  divided  the  church.  High, 
low,  broad,  ritualistic,  and  rationahstic  were  all 
there,  under  other  names.  He  is  not  jealous 
for  his  own  name,  nor  envious  of  the  eloquent 
Apollos,  whom  some  had  set  up  as  his  rival. 
"Is  Christ  divided?"  he  exclaims,  "was  Paul 
crucified  for  you?"  He  drives  through  their 
contentions  and  the  envyings  and  luxury  and 
drunkenness  which  defiled  even  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  death,  and  indignantly  arraigns 
them  for  their  blind  carnality  in  having  lost 
the  sense  of  God's  high  purpose  in  them  as  a 
church.  "  What,  know  ye  not  that  ye  are  the 
temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you  ?  " 

These  words  were  addressed  to  the  Christians 
collectively.  He  calls  upon  them  to  remember 
that  they  are  a  temple  builded  together  to  real- 
ise a  divine  idea  among  men,  a  unity  in  right- 
eousness, a  sanctuary  in  which  a  holy  God  might 
manifest  His  love.  He  appeals  to  them  as  a 
general  might  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  his 
soldiers  in  some  crisis  of  a  nation's  history. 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US.  167 

We  forget,  as  they  did,  that  we  are  members 
of  a  body.  By  every  obligation  of  our  bap- 
tismal, confirmation,  and  sacramental  vows  we 
are  not  to  consider  our  individual  selves  alone, 
but  ourselves  in  relation  to  the  whole  Church. 
No  man  liveth  unto  himself,  and  it  is  impossible 
that  any  member  of  the  Church  should  live 
unto  himself.  The  Church,  which  is  Christ's 
body,  is  honoured  or  dishonoured  in  us.  If  a 
man  is  a  mere  narrow,  pharisaic  formalist,  an 
ecclesiastical  partisan  without  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
(which  is  the  spirit  of  love)  in  him,  he  is  a  dis- 
integrating influence ;  he  tends  to  mar  the 
unity  of  the  temple.  If  he  is  an  indifferent, 
worldly  member,  satisfied  to  attend  church 
and  partake  occasionally  of  the  sacrament, 
but  with  no  thought  or  interest  for  the  king- 
dom of  God  among  men,  he  dishonours  the 
Church ;  he  is  a  selfish,  disloyal  citizen,  with- 
out the  patriotic  fervour  which  is  a  nation's 
strength.  The  question,  therefore,  my  friends, 
of  the  Tightness  of  our  individual  lives  as 
members  of  the  Church  is  not  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  evil  which  we  actually  do,  but  by 
the  eood  which  we  leave  undone.     Of  course 


1 68  THE   TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US. 

we  are  not  to  do  wrong,  but  the  Christian  idea 
is  something  far  higher  than  this.  It  is  positive 
loyalty  to  Christ  and  His  kingdom  in  lives 
which  shall  not  merely  be  blameless,  but  heroic 
for  goodness,  truth,  and  right. 

I  need  not,  however,  dwell  upon  the  applica- 
tion of  these  words  to  Christians  collectively. 
It  is  the  aggregate  of  personal  lives  that  makes 
the  one  strong  nation  and  the  one  strong 
Church.  To  realise  the  positive  idea  of  a 
kingdom  or  temple  of  God  among  men,  each 
individual  Christian  must  think  of  himself  SiS  a 
temple  made  for  God's  indwelling.  St.  Paul 
passes,  in  this  same  epistle,  to  this  close  personal 
application  of  the  thought  of  our  text:  "What, 
know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you  ?  " 

The  structure  of  the  whole  Church,  and  of 
each  particular  church,  is  like  the  cell  structure 
in  plant  life.  The  plant  is  a  complex  organism 
made  up  of  many  cells.  The  life  of  the  plant 
is  in  these,  and  depends  for  its  growth  upon 
the  functions  which  they  perform  in  accumulat- 
ing and  distributing  nutriment,  and  imparting 
health  and  beauty  to  the  whole. 


THE   TEMPLE   OF  GOD  IN  US.  169 

So  the  Church  is  one  temple,  "  the  blessed 
company,"  as  our  Communion  Office  defines  it, 
"  of  all  faithful  people  " ;  but  it  is  made  up  of 
countless  little  temples  or  sanctuaries  —  the 
personal  lives  of  its  members.  The  character 
of  the  whole  is  determined  by  the  spiritual 
richness  and  fulness  of  these  separate  lives. 

God  comes  into  the  Church,  then,  through 
us  —  through  the  sanctuary  of  our  spirits.  He 
no  longer  dwells  in  a  temple  made  with  hands. 
St.  Paul  uses  the  word  in  the  Greek  which 
signifies,  not  the  whole  Temple  building  in 
Jerusalem,  but  the  most  holy  place  or  sanctuary. 
The  most  holy  place  or  sanctuary  now  wherein 
God  waits  to  reveal  Himself  is  the  spirit  of  man. 
"The  kingdom  of  God,"  said  Christ,  "cometh 
not  with  observation  :    .   .   .  lo,  it  is  within  you." 

What,  then,  are  we  doing  with  ourselves 
personally?  Are  we  keeping  ourselves  open 
towards  God,  or  are  the  windows  of  the  dome 
of  our  being  all  crusted  with  dust  and  cobwebs 
through  long  disuse,  so  that  the  light  of  the 
blue  heavens  overarching  it  cannot  shine 
through?  Where  do  we,  in  the  deep  silences 
of  our  personal  consciousness,  habitually  live? 


I70  THE  TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US. 

Do  we  have  our  being  in  this  beautiful  upper 
room,  and  order  all  our  living  by  its  heavenly 
light?  Do  we  keep  the  windov/s  of  the  soul 
clear  of  the  least  thought  of  sin  which  might 
defile  them,  and  do  we  estimate  the  world  be- 
neath us  by  the  infinities  above? 

I  am  afraid  that  not  a  few  of  us  who  profess 
to  be  Christians  treat  the  sanctuary  of  their 
being  as  some  people  treat  their  best  room. 
They  live  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  parlour  is  the 
coldest  and  most  desolate  room  in  the  house. 
It  is  opened  only  occasionally,  when  there  is  a 
funeral,  or  formal  company.  There  is  a  large, 
handsome  Bible  on  the  table,  which  is  kept 
reverently  dusted,  but  seldom  opened.  I  as- 
sociate, to  this  hour,  with  a  certain  stately  room 
known  to  me  in  childhood,  the  cofifin  and  the 
corpse. 

Is  it  so  that  we  treat  the  best  room  in  this 
tabernacle  of  our  flesh?  Is  it  a  place  where 
darkness  and  death  abide,  while  we  really  live 
in  the  lower  rooms  of  our  being,  where  every- 
thing savours  of  meat  and  drink,  and  the  petty 
interests  of  the  flesh,  and  the  gratification  of 
self?     With  what  indignant  reproach  do  the 


THE   TEMPLE   OF  GOD  IN   US.  lyi 

wordsof  St.  Paul  come  resounding  down  through 
the  ages  to  us — "  Know  ye  not  that  ye  are  a 
sanctuary  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you?  " 

Do  you  call  yourselves  Christians,  and  do 
you  not  know  that  if  you  have  ever  sincerely 
begun  to  believe,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  in  you? 
Do  you  not  know  that  the  secret  of  power  for 
you,  and  through  you  for  the  whole  Church,  is 
not  in  what  you  do  outwardly,  but  in  what  you 
are  inwardly?  Ignorance  of  the  sublime  pos- 
sibilities of  our  awakened  nature,  the  capacity 
for  receiving  God,  and  being  inspired  with  holy 
thoughts  by  Him,  is  to  St.  Paul  a  shocking  igno- 
rance. We  may  expect  the  sceptic  to  discredit 
as  foolishness  the  suggestion  of  such  spiritual 
capacities;  but  what  shall  be  thought  of  the 
church-member  who,  magnifying  the  impor- 
tance of  receiving  the  bread  and  wine  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  is  blind  to  the  hidden  meaning 
and  purpose  of  the  sacrament  expressed  so  fully 
in  the  sacramental  office  itself:  "That  we,  and 
all  others  who  shall  be  partakers  of  this  Holy 
Communion,  may  worthily  receive  the  most 
precious  Body  and  Blood  of  Thy  Son  Jesus 


172 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US. 


Christ,  be  filled  with  Thy  grace  and  heavenly- 
benediction,  and  made  one  body  with  Him,  that 
He  may  dwell  in  us,  and  we  in  Him."  How 
often  does  the  sublime  sense  of  these  words 
pass  over  our  minds  like  living  waters  over  the 
insensate  rock! 

The  defect  in  our  Christianity  is  that  we  look 
for  God  too  much  outside  of  ourselves,  instead 
of  realising  that  He  is  Spirit  and  that  He  makes 
Himself  known  in  the  far-back  sanctuary  of  our 
spirits.  Prayer,  acquaintance  with  the  word 
of  Christ  in  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  atten- 
dance upon  church  services,  and  partaking  of  the 
sacrament,  are  all  means  to  the  one  end,  and 
that  is  the  indwelling  of  God.  But  merely  to 
say  prayers,  to  read  as  a  formal  duty  the  Bible, 
to  attend  church,  to  partake  with  the  lips  of  the 
bread  and  wine,  will  not  realise  for  us  this  in- 
dwelling. These  are  necessary  means  of  grace, 
but  it  is  the  preparation  of  the  heart  in  us 
which  alone  can  make  them  effective.  Prayer 
is  more  than  asking;  it  is  communion  with  the 
divine  Spirit  in  our  spirit.  Paul  does  more 
than  charge  us  to  read  the  Bible;  he  says: 
"  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dzi'ell  in  you  richly  in 


THE   TEMPLE   OF  GOD  IN   US. 


173 


all  wisdom  " — assimilate  it,  digest  it,  meditate 
upon  it  to  do  it,  and  then  it  will  be  ever  flower- 
ing in  suggestions  from  within  you  for  every 
time  of  sorrow  and  of  need.  And  so,  too,  in 
our  church-going  and  in  our  holy  communion, 
the  mind  must  be  ready  and  receptive,  or  no 
divine  influence  will  bless  us. 

In  the  use  of  all  these  means,  the  mind  or 
heart  is  like  the  sensitive  plate  of  the  photog- 
rapher behind  the  lens  in  the  dark  camera. 
The  plate  must  be  prepared  and  ready.  No 
plain  glass  or  soiled  film  will  receive  the 
impression.  It  is  a  remarkable  and  recent  dis- 
covery that  the  sensitive  plate,  carefully  pre- 
pared, will  reveal  to  the  astronomer  through 
the  telescope,  stars  which  the  human  eye  alone, 
though  aided  by  the  greatest  magnifying  power, 
could  not  detect.  Invisible  stars  have  thus 
impressed  themselves  upon  the  photographic 
plate,  and  have  been  brought  to  view  in  the 
enlarged  print.  Our  souls,  sensitised  by  a  real, 
honest  sorrow  for  sin,  and  faith  in  the  love 
which  pardons, —  opened  towards  God  by  being 
cleared  of  every  guilty  purpose  and  wilful  en- 
tertaining of  sinful  thoughts,  and  kept  habitually 


174  THE  TEMPLE  OF  COD  IN  US. 

sincere  before  Him, — are  prepared  to  receive  im- 
pressions from  the  invisible.  "  Eye  hath  not 
seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.  But  God 
hath  revealed  them  unto  us "  (if  our  hearts 
have  been  prepared  and  ready)  "  by  His  Spirit." 

I  have  been  addressing  members  of  the 
Church.  It  may  be  supposed  by  those  of  my 
hearers  who  make  no  profession  of  religion  that 
the  words  of  the  apostle  have  no  application  to 
them. 

It  is  true  that  St.  Paul  writes  to  avowed 
members  of  the  Church.  There  is,  however, 
truth  in  his  words  which  applies  with  equal 
force  to  you  who  make  no  profession. 

Each  one  of  you  is  a  sanctuary  for  the  habi- 
tation of  God.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  striving  to 
break  through  the  earth-born  clouds  which  veil 
it.  Sometimes  you  catch  a  gleam  of  the  clear 
heavens  and  the  Light  which,  St.  John  declares, 
"  Hghteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world." 

Emerson,  in  his  famous  essay  on  the  "  Over- 


THE    TEMPLE   OE   GOD   IN   US.  175 

soul,"  is  very  suggestive,  the  more  so  because 
he  was  a  free-thinker,  standing  outside  of  the 
Christianity  of  the  churches.  That  man  is  to 
be  pitied  as  something  which  has  sunk  beneath 
itself  who  has  nothing  in  him  which  responds  to 
these  crisp  sentences.  He  is  like  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, the  proud  king, — born  to  majesty, 
made  to  stand  erect  in  the  full  glory  of  crowned 
manhood, — grazing  in  the  fields  with  dumb  cat- 
tle. "  Our  faith,"  says  Emerson,  "  comes  in 
moments ;  our  vice  is  habitual.  Yet  there  is  a 
depth  in  those  brief  moments  which  constrains 
us  to  ascribe  more  reality  to  them  than  to  all 
other  experiences.  We  grant  that  human  life 
is  mean,  but  how  did  we  find  out  that  it  was 
mean  ?  What  is  the  ground  of  this  uneasiness 
of  ours,  of  this  old  discontent?" 

Yes;  it  is  true,  you  v/ho  do  not  call  your- 
selves Christians  often  feel  that  your  lives  are 
mean.  In  your  moments  of  remorse,  self- 
loathing,  sorrow,  or  sickness, —  in  your  lonely 
moments  when  you  would  not  for  worlds  let 
your  boon  companions  know  what  you  are  think- 
ing,— you  despise  yourself.  What  despises? 
You — the  something  within — your  other  self, 


176  THE  TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US. 

which  looks  at  yourself  with  contempt.  A 
quaint  old  poet  well  expresses  this  duality  of  our 
nature,  though  he  sacrifices  grammar  to  rhyme  : 

"  Within  my  earthly  temple  dwells  a  crowd  : 
There's  one  of  us  that's  humble,  one  that's  proud; 
There's  one  that's  broken-hearted  for  his  sins. 
And  one  who  unrepentant  sits  and  grins  ; 

"There's  one  who  loves  his  neighbour  as  himself, 
And  one  whose  every  thought  is  fame  and  pelf. 
From  much  corroding  care  would  I  be  free 
If  once  I  could  determine  which  is  me." 

This  higher  consciousness  is  the  divine  Spirit 
in  us,  making  itself  known  in  the  darkened 
sanctuary  of  our  being. 

What  are  you  doing  to  yourself  in  all  your 
persistent  disregard  of  this  divine  Spirit,  and 
persistent  stifling  of  its  suggestions?  There  is 
terrible  meaning  for  all  of  us  in  Paul's  warning 
words :  "  If  any  man  destroyeth  the  sanctuary 
of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy."  By  a  neces- 
sary and  natural  process,  the  man  who  habit- 
ually sins  against  his  body,  or  against  his 
conscience  or  the  impulses  of  his  spiritual 
being,  is  destroying  himself.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  point  to  a  judgment  to  come.     The 


THB   TEMPLE  OF  GOD  IN  US. 


177 


judgment  begins  here  and  now.  The  victim  of 
avarice,  hungry  for  gain,  the  miserable  drunk- 
ard, the  low  sensualist,  may  enjoy  a  wild  frenzy 
of  passion ;  but  who  that  knows  anything  of 
life,  does  not  know  that  the  debased  body  is 
burned  out  even  to  the  mercy-seat  in  the 
Most  Holy  Place.  The  "  Light  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  v/orld  "  vanishes 
amid  unholy  flames,  and  at  last  the  man  sits  in 
darkness  and  ashes,  "  having  no  hope,  and  with- 
out God  in  the  world." 

Despise  not  then,  my  friends,  the  words 
which  would  make  real  to  you  your  capacity 
for  an  endless  life  in  the  spirit,  having  its  cen- 
tre in  God. 

Working  through  all  the  evil  which  is  seeth- 
ing in  the  great  caldron  of  the  world  to-day, 
there  is  the  cleansing  influence  of  such  a  move- 
ment towards  the  knowledge  of  God  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  before.  Thirty  years  ago,  in 
my  own  early  ministry,  scientific  thought  was 
thoroughly  materialistic.  To-day  the  men  of 
science  have  become  conscious  of  the  fact,  and 
admit,  that  they  too  must  explore  the  darkness 
if  they   would    seek    the    answer  to    all  their 


178  THE   TEMPLE   OF  GOD   IN  US. 

larger  questions;  they  too  must  assume  the 
intangible  if  they  would  take  any  firm  steps 
in  explaining  the  series  of  facts  with  which  they 
have  to  deal.  When  representative  men  in 
science  and  philosophy  stand  reverently  before 
Christ, — when  one  of  them,  writing  of  "the  des- 
tiny of  man,"  and  voicing  the  thoughts  of  many 
others  not  avowed  Christians,  admits  that  "  the 
dream  of  poets,  the  lesson  of  priest  and  prophet, 
the  inspiration  of  the  great  musician,  is  con- 
firmed in  the  light  of  modern  knowledge," — 
when  he  tells  us  that,  "  as  we  gird  ourselves  up 
for  the  work  of  life,  we  may  look  forward  to 
the  time  when  in  the  truest  sense  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of 
Christ,  and  He  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever, 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords," — I  thank 
God  and  take  courage.  The  reverent  scientist, 
philosopher,  or  theosophist  may  not  move  in 
my  lines,  but  they  are  moving  towards  the 
knowledge  of  God ;  they  are  moving  towards 
the  one  centre  of  unity, — "  seeking  after  God, 
if  haply  they  might  find  Him."  Some  of  them 
stand,  like  Philip  before  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  begin  to  perceive  the  truth  of  His  divine 


THE   TEMPUi   01'    COD   IN   US.  179 

personality  in  His  answer  to  Philip's  demand, 
"  Show  us  the  Father  "  :  "  Have  I  been  so  long 
time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known 
me,  Philip?  " 

We  reach  to-day  the  last  Lord's  day  of  the 
year.  Another  wave  of  time  is  sinking  into  the 
past,  and  a  few  more  hours  will  find  us  riding 
upon  the  swelling  crest  of  a  new  year.  Time  — 
what  is  it?  It  is  the  brief  moment  in  which  we 
touch  soundings  as  we  pass  from  eternity  to 
eternity.  I  fear  that  many  of  you  think  of 
time  and  the  world  as  your  all.  All  your 
thoughts  and  hopes  and  desires  and  interests 
are  bound  up  with  them.  The  fatal  spell  of 
the  present  has  been  cast  upon  you,  and  noth- 
ing is  real  to  you  but  your  eating  and  your 
drinking,  your  ambitions,  your  money-making, 
and  your  pleasures.  When  old  age  creeps  on, 
and  the  chill  shadows  fall,  you  are  wretched ; 
death  is  a  terror ;  the  end  seems  to  you  only  a 
fearful  leap  into  the  dark.  I  take  up  the  words 
of  St.  Paul,  and  ring  them  as  a  New  Year's  peal 
in  your  ears  :  "  What,  know  ye  not  that  ye  are 
the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you  ?  "     Will  you  let  the  Spirit  die 


THE   TEMPLE   OF  GOD  IN   US. 


out  within  the  earthly  tabernacle  as  you  make 
the  brief  passage  from  eternity  to  eternity  ?  The 
old  Norseman  kings,  when  they  were  about  to 
die,  had  their  bodies  placed  in  a  slowly  burning 
ship,  with  all  sails  set,  that,  so  passing  out  to 
sea,  their  death  might  be  a  vanishing  into  the 
elements,  and  not  a  rotting  into  earth.  How 
much  more  should  we,  in  the  light  of  Chris- 
tianity, be  true  to  ourselves,  and  so  estimate  the 
present  that,  when  we  put  out  to  sea,  death  shall 
be  to  us  that  which  it  waits  to  be  for  every 
faithful  soul — "  mortality  swallowed  up  of  life." 


X. 

%l)t  Ccmple  aitD  ti)t  ^ttztt 


X. 

THE  TEMPLE  AND  THE  STREET. 

In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses, 

HOLY  UNTO  THE  LORD.— ZeCH.   xiv.    20. 

CONSPICUOUS  in  the  beautiful  dress  of 
the  high  priest  of  Israel  was  a  crown  of 

pure  gold,  upon  which  was  inscribed,  "  Holy 
unto  the  Lord."  The  skirts  of  the  splendid 
robe  of  blue  which  he  wore  were  hung  with 
golden  bells.  When  he  passed  within  the  awful 
mystery  of  the  holy  place  the  sound  of  the 
bells  was  music  from  another  sphere  than  that 
of  the  common  life  of  the  people  outside.  Re- 
ligion was  localised.  The  sacred  and  the  secular 
were  far  apart  in  the  mind  and  life  of  the  Jew. 
The  man  who  wrote  the  prophecy  of  our  text, 
five  hundred  years  before  Christ,  was  certainly 
gifted  with  perceptions  wonderfully  far-reach- 
ing. He  was  a  chief  mover  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Temple  after  the  return  from  the  Baby- 
1S3 


1 84  THE   TEMPLE  /Ih'D    THE  STREET. 


lonish  captivity.  There  was  not  much  enthu- 
siasm. The  people  were  disheartened.  They 
had  grown  faithless  towards  their  Temple  and 
their  God.  Zechariah,  though  he  worked  to 
restore  the  Temple,  perceived  that  a  time  was 
coming  when  the  music  of  God's  own  sphere 
should  not  sound  remotely  from  the  tinkling 
bells  of  the  high  priest  within  the  veil,  but  out 
in  the  busy  street,  amid  the  stir  and  traffic  of 
society,  there  should  be  upon  the  bells  of  the 
horses,  "  Holy  unto  the  Lord." 

The  prophecy  began  to  be  realised  when,  at 
Christ's  death,  the  veil  of  the  Temple  was  "  rent 
in  twain."  The  awful  sanctuary  in  which 
thunderings  and  lightnings  and  earthquake  had 
seemed  to  be  smouldering  was  opened  to  the 
day,  and  out  of  them  emerged  a  life — a  perfect 
life — the  life  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus.  The 
old  Temple,  with  its  distinctions  between  clean 
and  unclean,  its  cumbrous  ceremonial,  priestly 
caste,  and  separateness  from  the  common  daily 
life,  vanished.  "  Destroy  this  temple,"  said  the 
Christ,  "  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up." 
"But  He  spake,"  we  are  told,  "of  the  temple 
of  His  body."     That  was  raised  up,  and,  as  we 


THE   TEMPLE  AND   THE  STREET.  185 

know  Him  now  in  the  light  of  the  resurrection, 
we  see  the  unveiled  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
One  who  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we 
are — "the  man  Christ  Jesus." 

God  in  the  ordinary  human  life  is  the  new 
temple.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  Incarnation. 
The  world  has  been  very  slow  to  perceive  it. 
The  prologue  to  St.  John's  Gospel  declares  it  in 
the  familiar  words :  "  He  came  unto  His  own, 
and  His  own  received  Him  not.  But  as  many 
as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that 
believe  on  His  name."  Power  or  the  right  to 
become  sons  of  God  is  the  new  impulse  which 
the  gospel  has  brought  into  the  world. 

Have  you  ever  thought,  in  your  average 
struggling  workday  lives,  what  this  means? 
Have  you  ever  thought  that  it  is  your  revealed 
right,  and  made  quite  possible  for  you,  to  live 
up  to  the  sense  of  an  infinite  Fatherhood  as 
Christ  lived  up  to  and  in  it?  This  is  Christi- 
anity ;  this  is  the  salvation  which,  through  the 
gospel,  is  preached  unto  you  ;  this  is  the  faith 
which  can  alone  overcome  the  present  evil 
world  and  the  flesh  and  sin. 


1 86  THE  TEMPLE  /tND   THE  STREET. 

The  truth  I  want  to  urge  upon  you  is  that 
the  temple  in  this  sense  of  God  manifested  and 
sovereign  in  every  beHeving  soul  is  necessarily 
related  to  the  street.  It  has  been  over  and 
over  again  argued  that  Christianity  is  incom- 
patible with  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  that 
society  could  not  exist  if  its  principles  generally 
prevailed,  and  that  the  wheels  of  human  prog- 
ress would  be  clogged.  Honest  thinkers  are 
beginning  now  to  perceive  the  deeper  meaning 
of  Christ's  teaching,  and  to  admit  that  the  ob- 
jection has  sprung  from  prejudiced,  ignorant, 
and  superficial  views  of  that  teaching.  It  has 
been  commonly  supposed  that  the  supreme  pur- 
pose of  Christianity  is  to  save  our  souls  from 
the  impending  torment  of  eternal  fires  after 
death,  and  that  we  can  only  be  saved  by  a 
certain  kind  of  faith  which  involves  self-denial, 
the  renunciation  of  this  present  world,  a  literal 
following  of  Christ  in  His  poverty  and  suffering 
and  ministry,  and  living  solemnly  in  the  pres- 
ence of  that  awful  doom  of  eternal  burning  into 
which  thousands  of  our  fellow-beings  are  drop- 
ping off  every  moment.  I  do  not  wonder  that, 
in  view  of  such  a  distortion  of  the  gospel  of 


THE    TEMPLE  AND    THE  STREET.  187 

Jesus  Christ,  sceptics  have  argued  that  it  is  not 
compatible  with  the  present  business  of  life. 
But  it  is  a  distortion ;  and  though  it  contains 
elements  of  truth,  it  is  as  far  from  truth  as  the 
grotesque  image  of  a  beautiful  face  which  a 
concave  mirror  gives,  is  far  from  the  truth  of 
that  face. 

The  supreme  purpose  of  the  Christ  was  not 
to  save  our  souls  from  some  eternity  of  torment 
hereafter,  but  from  sin  now.  The  eternal  con- 
sequences of  sin  wilfully  persisted  in  must  be 
bad  enough,  but  it  is  a  present  disorder;  and  to 
restore  the  lost  order  by  bringing  us  to  a  sense 
of  the  infinite  Father's  light  and  love  w-as  His 
purpose.  Self-denial  is  a  necessary  part  of  it, 
because  we  can  live  up  to  the  higher  only  by 
denying  or  overriding  the  lov/er.  The  world  to 
be  renounced  is  the  w^orld  of  wrong,  impure, 
and  selfish  principles,  which  have  made  the 
visible  world  of  mankind  itself  a  hell,  and  which 
He  would  make  right  and  bring  into  harmony 
wdth  the  music  of  God's  sphere,  even  the  eter- 
nal law  of  love.  The  Christ  we  are  to  follow  is 
the  spiritual  Christ,  walking  in  love,  "  as  He 
also  loved   us,  and  gave  Himself  for  us."     It 


1 88  THE   TEMPLE  AND   THE  STREET. 

was  to  save  us  from  the  flame  of  our  own  con- 
suming lusts  that  He  died.  It  was  to  win  for 
us  the  heaven  of  a  present  peace,  hope,  and  Hfe 
that  shall  know  no  death,  that  He  took  our  na- 
ture upon  Him.  The  man  who  believes  in  order 
that  he  may  save  his  soul  from  everlasting  tor- 
ment and  gain  a  heaven  of  bliss  hereafter  has 
no  true  conception  of  the  faith  of  Christ. 
"  Honesty  is  the  best  policy  "  ;  but  Archbishop 
Whately  well  said  that  "  the  man  is  a  rogue 
who  acts  upon  it."  He  would  steal  if  he  dared. 
Christianity  is  more  than  a  policy  ;  it  is  a  life. 
"  I  am  come,"  said  the  Christ,  "  that  ye  might 
have  life,  and  that  ye  might  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly." For  one  word  in  which  He  points  to 
the  eternal  judgment  for  sin  I  can  point  you  to 
a  hundred  in  which  He  preaches  the  coming  of 
a  kingdom  of  God  among  men.  We  are  not 
taught  to  be  always  thinking  of  saving  our  souls 
from  death,  but  to  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  His  righteousness."  We  are  not 
taught  to  pray,  "  O  Lord,  save  our  souls  from 
eternal  fires,"  but  this  is  the  prayer  which  the 
Christ  has  given  us :  "  Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven,  Hallowed  be  Thy  name.    Thy  kingdom 


THE   TEMPLE  AND    THE  STREET.  1S9 

come.  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so  on 
earth."  It  is  a  creed  as  well  as  a  prayer  for 
the  every-day  life.  He  came  "  preaching  the 
kingdom  of  God,"  and  sent  forth  His  chosen 
disciples  to  preach  the  "  gospel  of  the  kingdom." 
His  aim  was  to  create  in  tJic  zvorld  a  society  of 
spiritual  men  and  women,  open  to  God,  inspired 
by  high,  unselfish  motives,  realising  their  infi- 
nite relations,  and  touching  humanity,  as  He 
touched  it  in  the  every-day  life,  with  healing, 
helping,  sympathetic,  and  uphfting  influences. 

The  faith  of  the  gospel,  therefore,  does  not 
require  you  or  me  to  be  anything  else  but  faith- 
ful and  full  of  loyalty  to  God  in  just  those  rela- 
tions and  just  that  life  (so  that  they  be  honest) 
in  which  we  stand.  We  are  not  called  to  live 
Christ's  life  literally,  as  some  satirists,  to  the 
detriment  of  Christianity,  would  have  us  sup- 
pose. We  are  called,  hovv-'ever,  to  live  His  life 
spiritually  in  the  sense  which  the  Apostle  Paul, 
writing  to  the  Ephesians,  has  with  a  luminous 
pen  defined.  "Be  ye  followers  of  God,"  he 
writes,  "as  dear  children";  and  then  immedi- 
ately he  shows  them  how  the}^  are  to  be  fol- 
lowers of  God — by  being  pure  as  men  in  their 


1 90  THE   TEMPLE  AND   THE  STREET. 

relations  to  a  corrupt  age,  faithful  as  wives, 
husbands,  children,  slaves,  and  masters.  You 
will  find  the  same  great  apostle  in  all  his  epis- 
tles resolving  the  most  seemingly  abstract 
philosophy  of  the  Christian  faith  into  the  prac- 
tical duties  of  every-day  life,  and  not  seeking 
to  revolutionise  society,  but  summing  up  all  in 
this  charge :  "  Brethren,  let  every  man,  wherein 
he  is  called,  therein  abide  with  God." 

Such  is  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  If 
it  is  not  compatible  v/ith  the  average  life  of 
humanity,  it  is  because  the  average  life  is  shut 
up  under  conditions  which  the  gospel  seeks  to 
break  through,  as  the  sun  through  clouds,  to 
bring  in  a  new  day  of  light,  life,  hope,  and 
love. 

Christianity  has  already,  in  spite  of  the  mis- 
conceptions and  ignorance  even  of  its  friends, 
taken  hold  of  the  world  powerfully.  The 
humanities  of  our  modern  life — caring  even  to 
prevent  cruelty  to  dumb  beasts,  honoring 
womanhood,  abolishing  slavery,  tending  to  put 
an  end  to  war,  making  human  life  sacred,  blos- 
soming into  countless  institutions  of  charity, 
responding  with    a  world-wide    sympathy    to 


THE   THMPLE  AND    THE  STREET.  191 


every  appeal  of  human  suffering,  agitated  by 
every  problem  that  concerns  the  rights  and 
well-being  of  men — are  directly  in  line  with  the 
evolution  that  Zechariah  dimly  foresaw  when 
he  wrote  that  there  should  be  upon  the  bells  of 
the  horses,  "  Holy  unto  the  Lord." 

I  think  it  must  be  admitted,  however,  by 
every  thoughtful  man  who  looks  out  over  the 
world  of  mankind,  that  it  is  capable  of  being 
improved.  If  some  men  love  darkness  rather 
than  light,  it  does  not  follow  that  light  is  not 
good  nor  capable  of  dispersing  darkness. 
"  This  is  the  condemnation,"  wrote  St.  John,  or 
probably  the  Christ  Him.self,  "  that  light  is 
come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness 
rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil." 
We  see  in  the  world  to-day  minds  evidently 
in  darkness,  groping,  stumbling,  unhappy,  and 
often  desperate.  We  see  sensuality  holding  its 
wild  orgies  in  the  light  of  lurid  camp-fires,  which 
passion  has  kindled,  and  v/hich  the  pure  dawn 
of  God's  day  would  put  to  shame.  We  see 
selfishness  lurking  everywhere  —  in  capital,  in 
labor  too,  in  every  form  of  business,  in  politics, 
in  the  church,  and  in  domestic  life.    There  is 


192  THE  TEMPLE  AND   THE  STREET. 

much  light,  hope,  purity,  and  unselfishness,  but 
I  am  arguing  that  society  is  capable  of  being 
improved.  What  will  help,  if  not  the  faith  that 
the  destiny  of  man  is  to  be  something  more  than 
an  animal,  something  more  even  than  the  genius 
of  the  brightest  intellect  that  illumines  the 
world — something,  in  fact,  which  the  Christ, 
by  His  incarnation,  death,  and  resurrection,  has 
made  possible  for  us,  "  heirs  of  God,  and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ  "?  What  can  help,  if  not  the 
hope  that  in  and  through  this  present  scheme 
of  things  there  is  a  kingdom  coming  which  shall 
be  for  all  who  enter  into  it  an  eternal  uplifting, 
carrying  them  over  death  into  the  immortality 
of  that  "  new  heavens  and  new  earth  in  which 
dwelleth  righteousness"?  What  can  help,  if 
not  that  which  is  born  of  faith  and  hope — love, 
the  universal  love,  the  pure  love  of  generous, 
kindly,  honest  sympathy  and  helpfulness? 
There  was  wondrous  wisdom  in  Paul's  words, 
"  But  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  and  love,  these 
three;  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love." 

Yes ;  these  three  are  capable  of  making  sweet 
the  bitter  waters  of  our  social  life.  There  is 
many  a  good  man  who  says  within  himself,  "  I 


THE  TEMPLE  AND   THE  STREET. 


193 


must  try  to  get  all  the  help  I  can  from  my 
church  and  the  Sunday  rest  to  keep  me  through 
the  week."  That  is  not  the  best  idea  of  the 
Christian  life.  He  is  like  the  diver,  who  takes 
in  a  supply  of  air  to  go  down  under  water,  and 
soon  comes  up  exhausted.  The  Christian  who 
has  fully  entered  into  the  life  of  faith  walks 
upon  the  sea  of  every-day  life.  Faith,  hope, 
and  love  are  vital  elements  in  him.  He  has  his 
being  in  them.  He  is  buoyed  up  by  them  in 
his  business  every  day  of  the  week.  He  rests 
upon  the  pleasant  isle  of  Sunday,  but  does  not 
go  plunging  down  on  Monday  into  the  depths 
of  secularism,  to  breathe  artificially  and  come 
up  again  at  the  end  of  the  week  nearl}-  if  not 
altogether  smothered,  and  with  really  no  supe- 
rior spiritual  life  in  him  at  all. 

My  brethren,  it  is  for  you  and  me  to  seek 
with  all  our  might  the  realisation  of  Zechariah's 
prophecy,  and  bring  about  the  time  when  there 
shall  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses,  "  Holy 
unto  the  Lord."  What  nobler  work — what  aim 
more  worthy  of  your  manhood — can  I  set  be- 
fore you?  God,  I  have  said,  in  t//e  ordinary 
Jmman  life  is  the  new  temple.     To  let  God  be 


194 


THE   TEMPLE  AND   THE  STREET. 


in  you  by  receiving  Jesus  Christ  as  the  mani- 
fested God,  and  by  living  up  to  the  ideal  which 
He  has  set  before  you  of  a  real  sonship  with 
the  eternal  Father,  yielding  yourself  to  the 
splendid  consciousness  that  you  are  not  mere 
animals  or  earthworms,  made  to  grub  and  die, 
but  children  of  God  and  of  the  resurrection, 
destined  for  an  immortal  society  of  which  the 
present  is  only  the  germ — this  is  your  faith. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  you  should  be  preach- 
ers or  hermits  in  order  to  bring  the  street  into 
harmony  with  the  temple.  It  is  only  necessary 
that  you  should  be  true  men  and  women,  living 
in  the  sense  of  something  above  the  mere  toiling 
and  moiling  and  bargaining  and  fretting  and 
money-making  which  absorb  you  every  day. 
The  something  above  will  regulate  and  calm 
and  make  holy  all  the  common  things. 


'*  There  are,  in  this  loud,  stunning  tide 

Of  human  care  and  crime. 
With  whom  the  melodies  abide 

Of  the  everlasting  chime  ; 
Who  carry  music  in  their  heart 
Through  dusky  lane  and  wrangling  mart, 
Plying  their  daily  task  with  busier  feet 
Because  their  secret  souls  a  holy  strain  repeal." 


THE   TEMP  in  AND    THE  STREET. 


^95 


Ye  men  and  women  who  call  yourselves 
Christians,  and  ye  other  men  and  women  who 
do  not  call  j'ourselves  so,  are  temples  in  and  by 
whom  holiness  may  be  carried  into  the  street. 
If  there  is  no  sound  of  life  in  your  temple, —  no 
bells  echoing  from  the  great  High  Priest  who 
has  passed  into  eternity, —  God  help  you! 
There  is  no  sadder  vision  in  all  the  universe 
than  a  man  without  God  —  defiled,  hopeless, 
doomed.  If  you  have  life  in  you,  the  life  of 
faith,  hope,  and  love,  live  it  every  day  and  in 
every  relation.  It  v.'ill  lift  you  above  care.  It 
will  make  the  world  the  happier  for  your  being. 
You  will  be  one  wave  —  a  very  little  one,  per- 
haps, but  still  an  impulse  —  in  that  sea  of  life 
which  is  setting  in  towards  the  blessed  time  when 
"  there  shall  be  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses, 
HOLY  UNTO  THE  LORD." 


XL 


Cl^e  moxti)  of  iHanl^ooD^ 


XI. 
THE  WORTH  OF   MANHOOD. 

What  man  shall  there  be  of  you,  that  shall  have  one 
sheep,  and  if  this  fall  into  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it,  and  lift  it  out?  How 
much  then  is  a  man  of  more  value  than  a  sheep  ! 

St,  Matt.  xii.  ii,  12. 

THE  Christ  was  in  a  synagogue  of  His  peo- 
ple on  the  Sabbath  day.  The  Pharisees 
were  seeking  to  involve  Him  in  some  violation 
of  their  Sabbath  law,  which  would  be  a  capital 
offence.  A  man  was  there  who  had  a  withered 
hand.  They  knew  how  quickly  His  heart  could 
be  touched  by  the  sight  of  sickness  or  infirmity. 
It  was  a  strange  and  suggestive  fact  that  disease 
could  not  continue  in  His  presence.  They 
asked  Him  if  it  was  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sab- 
bath day.  He  turned  to  them,  doubtless  with 
indignation  burning  in  His  look,  and  said, 
"  What  man  shall  there  be  of  you,  that  shall 
199 


200  THE  IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 

have  one  sheep,  and  if  this  fall  into  a  pit  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it,  and  lift 
it  out?  "  It  was  lawful  to  save  a  sheep  on  the 
Sabbath  day.  They  knew  very  well  that  for 
their  own  selfish  interests  they  would  do  it. 
"  How  much  then  is  a  man  of  more  value  than 
a  sheep!"  The  shaft  struck  home.  It  was 
like  the  thrust  which  He  gave  them  when  they 
brought  to  Him  a  woman  taken  in  adultery : 
"  He  that  is  without  sin  among  you,  let  him 
first  cast  a  stone  at  her." 

His  argument  was  unanswerable.  The  whole 
Sabbath  question  was  lifted  into  the  positive 
atmosphere  of  love.  "  If  you  would  rescue  a 
sheep  because  it  is  your  personal  property,  how 
much  miore  is  it  lawful  for  me  to  lift  a  man  out 
of  infirmity  on  the  Sabbath,  and  restore  him  to 
self-help  and  usefulness  among  his  fellows!" 
There  is  a  deeper  thought  than  that  which  ap- 
pears upon  the  surface :  "  You  would  rescue  a 
sheep  because  it  is  your  property.  I  am  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  Man- 
hood is  my  property,  and  therefore  I  have  a 
right  to  save  men  whenever  and  wherever  and 
however  I  will." 


THE   IVORTH   OF  MANHOOD. 


The  worth  of  vianJiood'\%  the  deep  underlying 
thought  of  this  whole  scene  which  I  want  to 
urge  upon  your  attention. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  through  all  the  course 
of  this  world's  history  a  sheep  has  been  reck- 
oned of  more  value  than  a  man.  The  sheep 
stands  for  property,  or  that  which  we  may  get 
for  our  own  profit.  The  thought  of  getting 
rather  than  of  being  has  certainly  been  domi- 
nant in  human  life,  both  individual  and  social. 

Look  at  the  individual  life  of  our  kind,  and 
what  in  the  average  living  is  counted  of  greatest 
worth?  Is  the  development  of  the  very  best 
that  is  possible  in  us  the  ruling  thought?  Is 
it  not  rather  true  that  we  live  to  feed,  accumu- 
late, and  get  all  the  pleasure  and  profit  vire  can 
from  the  world  outside  of  us?  The  property 
that  we  have  in  ourselves  is  a  nature  which  is 
both  physical  and  spiritual.  We  tend  to  care 
more  for  the  animal  inheritance  than  the  spirit- 
ual. It  is  tangible,  and  capable  of  paying  in 
present  pleasure  a  high  rate  of  interest.  I  know 
that  in  the  struggle  for  existence  human  life 
naturally  tends  to  become  sordid.  This  is  the 
evil  from  which  God,  in  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 


202  THE  IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 

Jesus  Christ,  would  deliver  us.  The  humblest 
toiler  may,  and  often  does,  find  a  divine  purpose 
in  his  being,  and  lives  nobly  and  hopefully 
through  all  his  toils.  We  are  compelled  for  our 
own  personal  safety  to  conform  to  certain  moral 
standards  and  observe  certain  outward  decen- 
cies. Reputation  must  be  preserved  and  actual 
crime  avoided.  We  may  even  stand,  like  the 
Pharisee,  and  thank  God  that  we  are  not  "  as 
other  men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers, 
or  even  as  this  publican."  But  it  is  the  worth 
of  our  reputation  that  we  are  thinking  of,  not 
the  worth  of  manhood.  This  is  the  personal 
Pharisaism  to  which  we  are  all  liable.  When 
there  is  an  issue  made  in  some  moment  of  se- 
cret temptation  between  the  animal  and  the 
spiritual,  we  count  the  sheep  of  more  value  than 
the  man.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  men  and  women 
may  be  very  respectable  outwardly,  and  scru- 
pulous in  the  observance  of  social  proprieties, 
and  yet  be  selfish,  sensual,  and,  in  all  that  con- 
stitutes true  manhood  or  womanhood,  dead. 
They  may  have  no  sense  of  the  eternal  worth 
and  divine  capacities  of  their  withered  souls,  but 
to  justify  the  indulgence  of  their  lower  nature 


THE  IVORTH  OF  M/.NHOOD.  203 

—  to  save  a  sheep  —  they  will  strain  the  elastic 
standards  of  society  to  the  point  of  breaking. 

That  which  is  true  of  the  individual  pervades, 
of  course,  the  social  world  of  which  he  is  the 
unit.  That  in  all  our  social  life  a  sheep  is  reck- 
oned of  more  value  than  a  man —  property  put 
before  manhood — is  a  fact  so  conspicuous  that 
it  requires  no  proof.  Society  is  based  upon  the 
security,  the  distribution,  and  the  accumulation 
of  property.  This  is  a  necessity  of  our  material 
existence.  We  must  get  bread  and  clothing  and 
shelter,  but  in  the  universal  scramble  the  desire 
to  accumulate  becomes  a  passion.  Differences 
in  ability,  education,  circumstance,  inheritance, 
create  inequalities  which  clothe  some  with  power 
over  others.  That  there  is  something  higher  to 
be  thought  of  in  our  relations  to  other  men  than 
power,  place,  wealth,  or  service  is  an  idea  which 
has  found  but  little  toleration  in  the  world's 
history.  The  worth  of  manhood  at  one  period 
has  been  measured  by  the  conquests  which 
could  be  achieved  by  it ;  at  another  by  the  rank, 
royalty,  or  other  prestige  that  could  be  main- 
tained by  it ;  at  another  by  the  wealth  which  it 
could  be  made  to  yield.     The  world  of  a  later 


204  T^^  IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 

age  is  beginning  to  see  that  there  is  something 
better  to  be  considered  in  our  relations  to  one 
another  than  all  these — that  there  is  a  worth  in 
manhood,  gold  in  the  rough  ore,  which  is  prop- 
erty of  infinitely  more  value  to  nations  than  a 
sheep.  Distrust  disintegrates  the  foundations 
of  society,  and  the  social  world  is  full  of  strife 
and  envy,  because  this  thought  is  only  dimly 
perceived  and  feebly  acted  upon.  There  is  a 
Pharisaism  in  politics  which,  under  a  show  of 
patriotism,  seeks  place  and  power  or  party  in- 
terest; in  commercial  life  which,  under  those 
forms  of  honesty  which  security  demands,  often 
VvTongs  and  corrupts  in  the  haste  to  be  rich;  in 
our  social  conventions  which  "pays  tithe  of  mint, 
anise,  and  cumin,"  and  forgets,  in  the  daily  touch 
with  humanity,  purity,  justice,  mercy,  and  truth  ; 
in  rehgion  even,  which,  having  the  form  of  godli- 
ness, will  sacrifice  truth  to  a  system,  neglect 
small  charities  for  big  philanthropies,  and  lose 
the  spirit  of  Christ  in  zeal  for  a  prerogative  or  ec- 
clesiastical tradition  or  ritual  observances.  The 
Pharisee  was  not  wrong  in  his  observances.  He 
stood  for  the  worship  of  the  one  God,  and  was 
a  strict  moralist.     "  These  things  ought  ye  to 


THE   IVORTH   OF  MANHOOD. 


have  done,"  said  Christ,  "and  not  to  leave  the 
other  undone."  He  was  condemned  because  he 
was  thoroughly  egotistical  in  his  observances, 
and  cared  more  for  his  pride,  prejudice,  and  prop- 
erty than  he  did  for  the  chief  end  of  the  law — 
the  welfare  of  men,  the  worth  of  manhood. 

Now  turn  from  this  painful  glance  at  a  state 
of  society  in  which  a  sheep  is  counted  of  more 
value  than  a  man,  and  think  of  the  new  princi- 
ple which  to  the  Pharisaism  of  His  own  time  the 
Christ  opposed  when  He  said,  "  How  much  then 
is  a  man  of  more  value  than  a  sheep!  "  The 
worth  of  manhood  was  the  supreme  thought  of 
His  mind  and  ministry.  It  was  a  purely  original 
thought.  That  mankind  in  general  should 
be  otherwise  than  hopelessly  barbarian  never 
entered  into  the  imagination  of  the  Greek 
philosopher.  Religion  before  Christ  was  a  cult 
or  a  mystery  into  which  only  a  learned  few 
could  enter.  I  do  not  forget  that  Confucius 
inculcated  the  social  virtues,  and  that  the  Bud- 
dha taught  men  to  be  kind  to  one  another.  But 
there  was  neither  God  nor  hope  in  their  system. 
They  realised  the  social  value  of  a  sympathetic 
habit,  but  of  the  worth  of  manhood  before  God, 


2o6  THE  IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 

and  its  divine  capacities,  they  had  no  concep- 
tion. Their  teaching"  lacked  force,  because  it 
met  no  sense  of  a  higher  destiny  than  earth,  in 
man.  That  through  and  underneath  the  dark, 
dreary  Alaskan  wilderness  of  a  downtrodden 
humanity  there  should  be  wealth  of  spiritual 
being  more  precious  than  gold,  never  entered 
the  mind  of  the  old  civilisation.  Christ  came 
to  seek  and  bring  to  light  the  buried  manhood, 
—  to  purge  away  its  dross,  and  to  build  up  out 
of  it  "Jerusalem  the  golden." 

See  how  He  defied  all  the  prejudices  of  those 
haughty  Pharisees  when  He  said  to  the  man 
with  the  withered  hand,  "  Stretch  it  forth,"  and 
immediately  it  was  restored.  Tradition  says 
that  the  man  had  been  a  stone-cutter,  whom 
some  form  of  paralysis  had  rendered  helpless. 
He  may  have  become  a  sort  of  tramp  who  made 
capital  out  of  his  infirmity.  A  sheep  might 
have  seemed  to  be  of  more  worth  to  society 
than  he  was ;  but  he  was  a  man, — that  was  his 
claim  upon  our  Lord's  sympathy.  The  worth 
of  manhood  is  opposed  to  the  worth  of  an  ani- 
mal. It  was  something  to  restore  him  to  self- 
help  and  usefulness,  but  that  was  not  all.     The 


THE  IP'ORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 


207 


Christ  had  a  deeper  purpose  in  all  His  healing, 
helping  touch  with  humanity.  That  man,  so 
nobly  lifted  out  of  the  pit  of  his  infirmity  and 
extricated  from  the  net  which  Pharisaism  would 
have  thrown  round  him,  could  not  quite  forget 
the  Healer,  It  is  true  that  there  were  ten  lepers 
cleansed,  but  only  one  returned  to  give  glory  to 
God.  One,  however,  did  return,  and  he  was  a 
Samaritan ;  but  there  was  an  eternal  uplifting 
for  him  in  the  gracious  words, "  Arise,  and  go  thy 
way:  thy  faith  hath  m.ade  thee  whole."  The 
nine  missed  the  wealth  of  spiritual  blessing 
which  he  realised,  because  they  did  not  act  up 
to  the  best  that  was  in  them  and  give  glory  to 
the  power  that  cleansed  them.  We  do  not  know 
what  effect  Christ's  goodness  had  upon  the  man 
with  the  withered  hand,  but  he  never  could  have 
forgotten  the  sympathy  which  touched  and 
healed  him.  I  do  not  believe  he  could  have 
been  among  the  mob  which  cried  out,  "  Let 
Him  be  crucified!"  His  life  must  have  been 
different  and  nobler  from  the  hour  that  he  met 
Jesus  Christ.  But  whatever  may  have  been  his 
subsequent  history,  we  know  that  our  Lord  by 
His  sympathy  lifted  the  Samaritan  leper  up  to 


2o8  THE  IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 

a  higher  hfe ;  that  He  opened  the  bhnd  eyes  of 
Bartimeus,  whom  the  Pharisees  cast  out,  to  the 
vision  of  a  new  and  immortal  life  through  faith ; 
that  He  brought  down  Zaccheus,  the  despised 
publican,  from  his  leafy  hiding-place,  and  by 
recognising  the  better  spirit  that  was  latent  in 
him  made  a  new  man  of  him ;  and  that  He  drew 
the  Magdalene  to  His  feet  in  loving  devotion, 
for  ever  purified  by  His  pardoning  word.  It 
was  not  men's  bodies  that  He  was  seeking  to 
save,  but  their  souls,  through  their  bodies. 
How  pathetically  this  was  shown  in  the  sad  re- 
frain to  the  cleansing  of  the  lepers  :"  Were  there 
not  ten  cleansed?  but  where  are  the  nine?" 
It  was  to  lead  out  men's  spiritual  nature  that 
He  was  working.  This  was  education  in  its 
highest  sense.  He  saw  in  the  rough  fishermiCn 
and  many  a  despised  publican  and  miserable 
outcast  such  value  before  God  that  when  one 
of  them  repented  He  declared  that  there  was 
joy  in  heaven. 

But  what  was  it  that  gave  such  worth  to  man- 
hood? The  Christ  was  the  merchant  of  His 
own  parable,  who,  having  found  one  pearl  of 
great  price,  went  and  sold  all  that  he  had  and 


THE   IVOR'IH   or  MANHOOD.  209 

bought  it.  But  what  is  the  pearl  that  was 
worthy  of  the  price  whicli  Christ  paid  for  it, 
even  the  giving  of  HimseU"  to  hve,  suffer,  and 
die  in  the  flesh?  He  has  Himself  defined  it  in 
the  familiar  words  as  they  are  rendered  by  St. 
Luke :  "  What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  or  forfeit  his  own  self?" 
The  self  in  us  which  lies  back  of  the  animal  self, 
and  which  is  capable  of  receiving  and  knowing 
the  Father  of  our  spirits  and  partaking  of  His 
own  eternal  life,  is  the  "  pearl  of  great  price  " — 
the  "  treasure  hid  in  a  field  " — the  lost  son  who, 
"  when  he  came  to  himself,"  said,  "  I  will  arise 
and  go  to  my  father."  Through  all  Christ's 
work  and  teaching  we  find  Him  seeking  this 
spiritual  self  in  mankind,  which  was  lost  under 
the  darkness  of  an  earthly,  sensual  habit.  It 
could  be  satisfied  only  with  God,  and  therefore 
every  soul  which  had  not  made  darkness  its 
element  was  responsive  to  Him.  He  could  not 
reach  the  Pharisees,  because  they  had  buried 
their  true  spiritual  selves  beneath  the  form  of 
religion  itself,  and,  while  they  seemed  to  be 
religious,  v/ere  only  gorgeous  sepulchres,  full  of 
pride  and  selfishness.    The  habit  of  self-seeking, 


210 


THE   IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD. 


of  reckoning  even  in  their  religion  the  sheep  of 
more  value  than  man,  had  so  incrusted  them  that 
they  had  no  life  left  in  them.  There  were  others 
in  whom  the  rank  overgrowth  of  fleshly  thoughts 
and  habits  had  completely  choked  the  growth 
of  a  higher  self.  It  has  been  so  in  every  age. 
There  are  respectable  men  and  women  now  who 
are  so  incased  in  the  pride  of  their  own  opinions 
and  moral  and  intellectual  sufficiency  that  only 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead  could  restore  them 
to  life  and  light.  There  seems  to  be  also  a  large 
class  so  completely  brutalised  that  we  can  only 
think  of  the  Master's  own  words  when  we  try  to 
reach  them :  "  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto 
the  dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before 
swine,  lest  they  trample  them  under  their  feet, 
and  turn  again  and  rend  you."  But  by  every 
means  He  sought  to  waken  men  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  divine  possibilities  that  were 
in  them.  When  He  drev/  the  fisher  disciples  to 
Himself,  and  made  them  His  apostles,  this  was 
the  charge  :  "  Come  ye  after  me,  and  I  will  make 
you  fishers  of  men."  This  was  to  be  the  mis- 
sion of  their  lives  and  of  the  whole  church. 
The  love  of  Christ,  seeking  goodly  pearls,  found 


THE   P/ORTH   OF  MANHOOD. 


in  Saul  of  Tarsus,  a  Pharisee,  and  the  son  of 
Pharisees,  that  pearl  of  great  price,  the  splendid 
manhood  of  Paul  the  Apostle.  This  was  the 
experience  through  which  the  Pharisaism  of 
Saul  was  transmuted  into  the  glowing  Christian 
character  of  Paul:  "When  it  pleased  God  to 
reveal  His  Son  in  me,  immediately  I  conferred 
not  with  flesh  and  blood."  He  was  a  new  man — 
old  things  had  passed  away — the  moment  that 
he  realised  in  deepest  penitence  "  how  much  a 
man  is  of  more  value  than  a  sheep." 

I  have  spoken  of  the  general  tendency  of  the 
world's  thought  to  reckon  a  sheep  of  more  value 
than  a  man,  and  then  of  the  supreme  purpose 
of  the  Christ  to  reverse  this  false  estimate  and 
make  us  know  that  a  man  is  of  more  value  than 
a  sheep.  I  ask  you  to  think,  in  conclusion,  of 
the  immense  practical  importance  in  its  bearing 
upon  our  individual  and  social  welfare  of  Christ's 
estimate  of  manhood. 

We  are  not  animals.  We  are  men.  The 
effort  to  prove  that  we  are  only  animal  has 
failed.  Science  itself  is  groping  among  the  in- 
finities, and  has  to  recognise  a  "  supreme  mo- 
ment in  man's  history  when  the  psychical  began 


THB   nORTH   OF  MANHOOD. 


to  dominate  the  physical."  The  life  of  many 
men  is,  indeed,  so  completely  subject  to  the 
physical  that  the  sheep  puts  them  to  shame. 
The  sheep  lives  out  its  own  quiet  nature ;  but 
they  are  not  living  true  to  themselves.  The 
sheep  is  content  to  graze  ;  but  they  are  not  con- 
tent. They  often  loathe  themselves.  The  dis- 
gust, the  shame,  the  remorse,  prove  that  they 
are  capable  of  something  higher.  The  very 
fierceness  of  men's  passions  is  evidence  that  they 
are  more  than  animxals.  The  natural  brute 
beast,  in  obeying  its  instincts,  does  not  prey 
upon  itself ;  but  a  man  does.  He  makes  a  ruin 
of  his  body,  because  he  violates  the  laws  of  his 
being.  The  voluptuary,  the  drunkard,  the 
glutton,  all  sin  against  themselves.  The  laws 
of  our  being  must,  therefore,  demand  a  higher 
service  than  that  of  the  bodily  appetites.  We 
are  capable  not  only  of  that  mental  development 
which  we  call  education,  and  which  enables  man 
to  dominate  the  earth,  but  of  a  spiritual  de- 
velopment which  makes  for  godlikeness  in  char- 
acter. This  is  the  worth  of  manhood,  that, 
knowing  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  we  may  open  our 
true  spiritual  selves  in  faith  to  His  love,  and 


THE  IVORTH   OF  MANHOOD.  213 

realise  that  He  is  our  Father  in  the  same  high 
sense  that  He  was  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  through  the  knowledge  of  God, 
you  perceive,  and  the  realisation  by  faith  of 
our  undying  sonship  with  Him,  that  we  find 
the  worth  of  manhood.  Christianity  offers  the 
individual  man  a  better  hope  than  wheeling 
through  endless  cycles  of  change,  and  then,  if 
he  has  kept  the  "right  rules,"  the  blessedness 
of  "  ceasing  to  be,"  as 

"  The  dewdrop  slips  into  the  shining  sea." 

It  does  not  find  his  ultimate  destiny  in  that 
Nirvana  where,  as  a  certain  poet  describes  it, 

"  Seeking  nothing,  he  gains  all ; 
Foregoing  self,  the  universe  grows  *I."' 

God,  the  eternal  Father,  stands  for  "  I  "  in  the 
Christian  faith.  He  is  a  present  God,  shining 
in  the  face  of  the  incarnate  Jesus,  imaged  in 
our  pure  human  loves  and  relationships,  dwelling 
in  our  hearts,  if  we  will,  by  faith.  To  "  walk  in 
the  light,  as  He  is  in  the  light,"  not  by  an  as- 
cetic denial  or  denouncing  of  the  flesh,  nor 
despising  the  common  life  of  men,  nor  separat- 


214 


THE   IVORTH   OF  MANHOOD. 


ing  ourselves  from  the  every-day  business  of 
the  world,  but  by  living  up  to  the  best  that  is 
in  us,  keeping  ourselves  open  to  God,  and  our 
bodies  in  subjection,  and  carrying  brightness, 
hope,  patience,  and  goodness  into  all  our  touch 
with  the  present  world — this  is  the  manhood 
and  womanhood  of  which  we  are  capable. 

"The  sweet  persuasion  of  His  voice 
Respects  thy  sanctity  of  will : 
He  giveth  day ;  thou  hast  thy  choice 
To  walk  in  darkness  still." 

The  social  worth  of  men  and  women  who 
walk  in  the  God-given  day  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. There  is  certainly  no  property  of 
more  real  value  to  the  world  than  virtuous  man- 
hood and  womanhood.  There  are  no  principles 
which  more  surely  tend  to  evolve  the  highest 
virtue  than  the  principles  of  love  to  God  and 
man.  Christianity  is  the  only  religion  which 
has  been  able  to  realise  them  in  human  lives  and 
make  them  living  forces  in  our  civilisation. 
What  nobler  use,  then,  can  we  make  of  ourselves 
in  this  brief  life  of  ours  than  so  to  live  that  the 
world  shall  be  the  richer  for  our  being?  We 
may  acquire  material  wealth  and  bless  the  world 


THE  IVORTH  OF  MANHOOD.  215 

with  it,  but  there  is  a  wealth  of  Christian  char- 
acter which  is  capital  of  infinitely  more  value  to 
the  world  than  gold.  It  is  a  splendid  thing 
when  character  and  gold  are  united  in  one  man  ; 
but,  comparatively  speaking,  sterling  character 
is  worth  vastly  more  than  sterling  gold.  No 
large  philanthropies  or  generous  bequests  will 
condone  for  unworthy  living.  The  world  needs 
the  best  coinage  of  your  manhood  and  your 
womanhood,  and  you  are  responsible  for  its 
awful  poverty  of  being  if  you  do  not  give  it 
gold  bearing  the  image  and  superscription,  not 
of  Caesar,  but  of  God. 

And  what  beautiful  new  lights  are  thrown 
upon  the  missionary  idea  when  we  look  at  it 
from  the  Christ's  point  of  view !  St.  Paul  wrote 
to  the  Corinthian  Christians :  "  I  seek  not  yours, 
but  you."  This  is  the  true  missionary  idea. 
It  has  in  view  the  worth  of  manhood  to  God,  to 
society,  and  to  itself,  and  not  exclusively  that 
which  has  complicated  the  whole  question  of 
missions — salvation  from  some  impending  doom 
hereafter.  Men  are  property  of  more  value  than 
sheep,  and  therefore,  to  lead  them  up  to  the 
highest  and  best  that  is  possible  is  certainly  a 


2i6  THE  WORTH  Of  MANHOOD. 

splendid  work,  both  in  its  present  and  its  eternal 
results.  If  He  who  gave  Himself  for  us  rejoiced 
and  the  angels  in  heaven  echoed  His  joy,  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth,  surely  we  who  call 
ourselves  Christians  ought  wherever  we  touch 
men  in  our  families  and  business  and  by  every 
other  opportunity,  to  seek  to  lift  them  up  to  the 
life  which  God  their  Father  would  have  them 
live.  The  world  needs  this  nobler  estimate  of 
the  worth  of  manhood.  When  there  is  a  great 
enthusiasm  for  it  we  shall  have  not  only  the 
solving  of  many  of  our  problems,  but  the  in- 
coming of  the  promised  kingdom  of  God  among 
men. 

I  have  been  able  only  to  suggest  thoughts 
which  are  worthy  of  your  more  careful  consid- 
eration. There  is  hope  for  a  soul  that  has  not 
died  down  beneath  the  experience  which  is  de- 
scribed in  St.  Paul's  words :  "  The  good  that  I 
would,  I  do  not:  but  the  evil  which  I  would 
not,  that  I  do.  .  .  .  O  wretched  man  that  I 
am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death?"  Turning  to  God  in  the  faith  of  His 
love,  sealed  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
abiding  in  the  communion  of  His  Church,  and 


THE  lyORTH  OF  M.^NHOOD. 


217 


walking  in  love,  as  Christ  also  loved  us,  that 
soul  may  reckon  itself  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but 
alive  unto  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

There  are  men  and  women,  not  only  in  the 
slums  but  in  the  best  circles  of  society,  who, 
like  Cleopatra,  in  the  very  wantonness  of  lux- 
ury dissolve  pearls  in  their  wine-cup  and  drink 
them;  not  the  perishable  pearls  of  earth,  but 
their  own  spiritual  selves  which  Christ  came  to 
redeem,  and  which  He  would  set  in  the  crov/n 
of  His  glory  to  shine  like  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever.  They  hold  the  golden  chalice  of  life  in 
their  hands,  but  not  content  to  drink  and  be 
thankful  for  that  which  God  gives,  they  put  the 
pearl  of  great  price  into  it  and  dissolve  it  away 
in  mere  frivolity. 

While  you  have  life,  and  quickly,  before  death 
strikes  the  golden  cup  from  your  grasp,  give 
yourselves  to  God,  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  in  the 
communion  of  His  Church,  in  nobleness  of  liv- 
ing; and  so  shall  you  be  numbered  with  those 
blessed  ones  of  whom  it  is  written,  "They  shall 
be  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  in  that  day  when  I 
make  up  my  jewels." 


XII. 


XII. 
THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION. 

Afid  I  will  give  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee, 
the  laud  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  of 
Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  possession;  and  I  will  be 
their  God.— Ge-^^.  xvii.  8. 

THIS  was  God's  promise  to  Abraham. 
Notice  the  terms  of  the  promise:  "Unto 
thee" — not  "to  thy  seed"  only,  but  "unto 
thee" — will  I  give  "all  the  land  of  Canaan," 
and  that  for  an  "everlasting  possession." 

Now  the  peculiar  fact  is  that  the  terms  were 
not  realised,  either  for  him  or  for  his  seed.  He 
wandered  as  a  stranger  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 
He  never  inherited  it.  The  only  possession  he 
really  had  in  it  was  the  possession  of  a  burial- 
place,  which  he  purchased.  His  posterity,  after 
the  bondage  in  Egypt  and  the  weary  wander- 
ing in  the  wilderness,  ultimately  subdued  the 
Canaanites ;  but  they  found  no  everlasting  pos- 

221 


2  22  THE  EyERLASTlNG  POSSESSION. 

session.  They  were  temporarily  established 
under  David  and  Solomon ;  but  the  glory  of  the 
Jewish  kingdom  soon  faded,  and  they  were  car- 
ried into  captivity  and  the  land  overrun  with 
strangers.  They  never  thoroughly  ralhed  again. 
The  Promised  Land  is  profaned  by  strangers 
again  to-day,  and  those  to  whom  it  was  given 
as  an  everlasting  possession  are  scattered  abroad. 
Was  Abraham  the  victim  of  a  cruel  deception  ? 
Did  he  go  out  from  his  own  land,  not  knowing 
whither  he  went,  and  dwell  in  tents,  and  endure 
hardships,  led  by  no  brighter  hope  than  the 
possible  glory  of  his  posterity  in  the  far-off 
future — a  glory  which  he  was  not  to  witness? 
Was  there  no  hope  for  the  patriarch  beyond  the 
tomb  which  was  his  only  possession  and  his 
only  resting-place  in  time?  "  I  will  give  unto 
thee  the  land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger ;" — but 
he  died  a  stranger  in  it.  Where,  then,  was  the 
fulfilment? 

The  New  Testament  throws  light  upon  the 
question.  Stephen  recognised  the  strange  fact 
in  his  address  before  the  council,  when  he  said, 
speaking  of  Abraham,  "  God  removed  him  into 
this  land,  wherein  yc  now  dwell.    And  He  gave 


THE  EVERLA STING  POSSESSION. 


223 


him  none  inheritance  in  it,  no,  not  so  much  as 
to  set  his  foot  on :  yet  He  promised  that  He 
would  give  it  to  him  for  a  possession,  and  to  his 
seed  after  him,  when  as  yet  he  had  no  child." 
Our  Lord  relieves  the  difificulty  which  the  patri- 
arch's death  seemed  to  interpose,  by  teaching 
us  that  the  God  who  is  called  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob,  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  "  of  the 
living";  for  "all  live  unto  Him."  The  resur- 
rection may  accomplish  for  Abraham  that  which 
his  death  seemed  to  forbid.  He  has  not  passed 
out  of  the  sphere  of  God's  covenant  mercy.  He 
has  not  ceased  to  be.      He  may  still  inherit. 

The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
shows  us  that  this  future  realisation  of  the  prom- 
ise is  not  only  possible,  but  that  to  it  Abraham 
looked.  Through  the  fading  of  his  earthly  hope 
he  saw  rising  into  view  a  better,  even  a  heav- 
enly, country.  "  By  faith  "  he  went  out  "  into 
a  place  which  he  should  after  receive  for  an  in- 
heritance, .  .  .  not  knowing  whither  he  went. 
By  faith  he  became  a  sojourner  in  the  land  of 
promise,  as  in  a  land  not  his  own,  dwelling  in 
tents,  with  Isaac  and  Jacob,  the  heirs  with  him 


2  24  THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION. 

of  the  same  promise."  By  faith  he  was  able  to 
see  the  earthly  promise  fail,  because  he  "  looked 
for  the  city  which  hath  the  foundations,  whose 
builder  and  maker  is  God."  The  same  strong 
faith,  you  perceive,  which  at  God's  command 
would  have  offered  up  Isaac,  accounting  that 
God  was  able  to  raise  him  up  even  from  the 
dead,  enabled  him  to  look  through  the  temporal 
Canaan  to  the  eternal  inheritance  of  which  it  was 
only  the  shadow  and  the  preparation. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  promise  is  yet  to  be 
fulfilled.  Abraham  waits  for  it;  his  posterity 
wait  for  it.  "  These  all,"  says  the  apostle,  "  died 
in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promises,  but 
having  seen  them  and  greeted  them  from  afar, 
and  having  confessed  that  they  were  strangers 
and  pilgrims  on  the  earth."  But  who  are 
Abraham's  children?  Are  they  the  circumci- 
sion only  ?  Not  the  circumcision  only,  but  the 
uncircumcision  also.  "  For,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  If 
ye  are  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  heirs 
according  to  promise."  Believers  stand  there- 
fore where  Abraham  stood,  not  having  received 
the  promises  but  "greeting  them  from  afar." 
There  is  wealth  of  suggestion  in  these   facts. 


THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION.  225 

They  help  us  to  understand  Hfe's  failure  —  to 
realise  our  hopes  —  the  relation  of  the  temporal 
to  the  eternal,  and  the  office  of  faith  in  a  chang- 
ing world. 

We  need  not  labour  to  prove  that  the  present 
life  does  not  realise  the  promises  of  God  to  ns  and 
in  us.  I  say  "in  us"  as  well  as  "to  us,"  be- 
cause every  man  has  intuitions  of  enjoyment, 
honour,  and  immortality  which  he  expects  life  to 
realise.  They  are  born  with  him,  and  as  clearly 
prophesy  of  the  things  they  crave  as  hunger  and 
thirst  prophesy  of  food  and  drink.  But  the 
earthly  Canaan  does  not  satisfy  these  prophetic 
cravings.  The  most  prosperous  find  at  last  only 
a  burial-place.  Their  possessions  pass  to  others. 
The  world  is  no  everlasting  possession.  We 
long  for  immortality,  but  we  do  not  find  it  here. 
"  The  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal."  The 
promises  which  are  written  on  our  hearts  are 
reaffirmed  by  the  Word  of  God.  The  present 
does  not  satisfy,  and  yet  we  are  told  that  the 
meek-spirited  shall  possess  the  earth  and  shall 
be  refreshed  in  the  multitude  of  peace.  "  The 
kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the 
kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,"  says  Daniel, 


2  26  THE  EyERL/lSriNG   POSSESSION. 

"  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  everlasting 
kingdom."  Christ  reiterates  the  promise,  de- 
claring: "Blessed  are  the  meek:  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth,"  "  All  things  are  yours,"  cries 
the  apostle  ;  "  whether  .  .  .  the  world,  or  life,  or 
death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come."  Is 
the  world  ours  ?  Do  the  saints  possess  it  ?  Gen- 
eration after  generation  has  passed  away,  realis- 
ing little  more  in  the  visible  present  than  conflict, 
temptation,  and  martyrs*  graves.  God's  people 
do  not,  certainly,  rule  the  earth.  It  is  largely 
in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  foreign  to  God. 
They  are  strangers  in  it.  They  dwell  in  tents, 
like  Abraham  and  his  children.  They  see  the 
"wicked  in  great  power,  and  flourishing  like  a 
green  bay-tree,"  while  they  more  often  inherit 
poverty  and  pain  than  prosperity.  They  die 
and  turn  again  to  their  dust,  like  other  men,  and 
then  all  their  thoughts  seem  to  perish.  The 
earth  which  they  are  to  inherit  yields  them,  in 
brief,  no  rest  for  their  souls,  no  permanent  joy, 
no  sure,  unchanging  foundation  for  their  hopes, 
no  immortality  of  life  and  love.  Their  chief 
experience  in  the  present  is  the  experience  of 


THE  EVERLASTING   POSSESSION. 


227 


life's  fickleness,  uncertainty,  and  weariness. 
They  confess,  with  the  patriarchs,  that  they  are 
"pilgrims  and  strangers  on  the  earth."  Well 
said  Paul :  "  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in 
Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  If 
His  promise  means  nothing  more  than  the  in- 
heritance which  we  have  in  this  present  life,  then 
we  are  cruelly  deceived; — for  His  will  brings 
us  into  conflict  with  the  flesh,  makes  the  world 
unfriendly  to  us,  and  yields  us  no  brighter  hope 
than  the  possible  supremacy  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  far-off  future  —  no  richer  compen- 
sation than  the  sense  of  having  sacrificed  our- 
selves and  crucified  our  earthly  desires  for  the 
possession  of  a  burial-place  in  which  life  and  its 
unfulfilled  promises  must  be  buried  together. 

It  is  clear  that  for  us,  as  for  Abraham,  the 
present  does  not  exhaust  the  promises  of  God. 
We  must  look  for  their  fulfilment  to  that  regen- 
erated earth  into  which  the  resurrection  shall 
usher  all  who  have  died  in  the  faith,  from  Adam 
and  Abel  and  Enoch  to  the  latest  saint  over 
whom  mourners  weep.  But  are  we  to  ignore 
and  despise  the  present?  Has  it  no  relation  to 
the  eternal  ?     Is  it  only  illusory  and  obstructive  ? 


228  THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION. 

These  questions  bring  us  to  our  second  point: 
the  relation  of  the  temporal  to  the  eternal.  Life's 
failure  to  realise  our  hopes  may  be  variously 
interpreted.  Some  adopt  the  Epicurean  inter- 
pretation of  the  mystery :  "  Let  us  eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry  to-day:  for  to-morrow  we  die." 
Get  all  the  good  you  can  out  of  the  present; 
save  what  you  can  from  the  wreck.  The  ship 
is  sinking ;  the  ocean  of  oblivion  will  soon  swal- 
low you  up.  All  the  possibilities  of  pleasure 
perish  in  the  grave ;  revel  and  riot  while  you 
may. 

Others  run  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  adopt 
the  ascetic  viev/  of  life.  Ignore,  they  say,  the 
present,  with  its  relations,  associations,  and  pur- 
suits, altogether;  they  are  essentially  hostile 
to  God  and  the  Christian  life.  Withdraw  into 
the  cloister;  put  on  sackcloth,  crucify  every 
affection  which  looks  earthward,  and  spend  your 
time  in  meditation  and  prayer.  The  one  view 
proceeds  upon  the  assumption  that  there  is  no 
promise  beyond  the  temporal ;  the  other  assumes 
that  the  promise  is  altogether  beyond  and  inde- 
pendent of  the  temporal. 

The  truth,  as  usual,  lies  between  the  two  ex- 


THIS  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION.  229 

tremes.  We  are  to  realise  the  promise,  not  in 
the  temporal,  nor  apart  from  it,  hwi  through  it. 
The  earthly  Canaan  was  the  image  of  the  heav- 
enly inheritance,  Abraham  was  led  out  through 
it  into  the  knowledge  of  God  and  dependence 
upon  Him.  His  pilgrim  experience  strengthened 
his  faith,  and  through  the  fading  of  the  earthly 
promise  he  gained  a  clearer  vision  of  the  eternal 
things  beyond.  So  his  posterity  found  a  wilder- 
ness on  the  other  side  of  the  Red  Sea ;  but  they 
entered  into  a  closer  acquaintance  with  God  and 
His  will  and  providential  care.  When  the  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey  was  reached,  they 
had  to  encounter  many  foes  and  painful  vicissi- 
tudes; but  they  found  a  Temple,  with  its  pro- 
phetic sacrifices  and  eloquent  types  pointing  on 
to  a  Redeemer  and  His  better  kingdom.  When, 
at  a  later  period,  their  land  sank  away  from 
them  and  they  were  submerged  in  captivity  to 
a  strange  people,  they  heard  the  voices  of  the 
prophets  and  saw  through  the  gloom  the  golden 
walls  of  "  the  city  which  hath  the  foundations." 
And  when,  again,  they  were  under  the  Roman 
yoke,  and  literally  .strangers  in  their  own  land, 
Christ  arose  upon  their  view,  a  "  bright  and 


230  THE  EyERLASTING   POSSESSION. 

morning  star  "  to  all  who  looked  for  the  conso- 
lation of  Israel,  heralding  a  new  day  of  spiritual 
life  and  light  and  glory.  Their  temporal  ex- 
periences were  like  a  series  of  dissolving  views, 
each  one  fading  into  some  brighter  vision ;  and 
still  the  people  of  God  are  looking  through  all 
the  changes  and  chances  of  this  mortal  life  for 
brighter  things  to  come.  The  earthly  Canaan 
was  their  school-room,  in  which  they  were 
taught  by  object-lessons  to  know  God,  and 
trained  for  that  nobler  citizenship  which  awaited 
them. 

Nov/,  precisely  that  is  the  relation  of  the  things 
seen  and  temporal  to  "  the  things  unseen  and 
eternal."  They  are  neither  to  be  idoHsed  as  if 
they  were  ends  of  being,  nor  ignored  as  if  they 
were  necessarily  evil,  but  to  be  used  as  means 
of  knowing  God,  and  as  affording  a  discipline 
or  education  for  the  higher,  freer  life  to  come. 
If  you  consider  the  present  world  in  this  view, 
as  the  school-room  in  which  we  may  be  taught 
and  disciplined  for  eternity,  I  think  you  will  see 
that  the  temporal  things  have  their  proper  and 
blessed  uses.  They  are  the  picture-forms  in 
which  eternal  truths  are  made  known  to  us  as 


THE  EyERMSTlNG  POSSESSION.  231 

they  could  not  be  known  otherwise.  Creation, 
in  its  manifold  hues  and  shapes,  gives  expression 
to  the  invisible  power  within.  We  may  read  the 
divine  wisdom,  might,  and  love  in  it,  just  as  we 
read  the  emotions  of  a  human  soul  in  the  fea- 
tures of  the  living  face.  We  are  drawn  out  of 
ourselves  to  seek  the  invisible  forces  which  play 
through  the  material  world  in  the  light  and 
growth  and  beauty  which  our  eyes  witness 
everywhere.  Not  in  the  realms  of  abstract 
thought  does  the  child  or  the  man  learn  of  God, 
but  through  the  creation  which  witnesses  of  the 
Creator.  If  some  will  not  heed  the  voices  which 
would  lead  them  on  to  the  sanctuary  of  God's 
presence,  the  fault  is  not  in  His  world,  but  in 
their  deaf  ears,  which  will  hear  nothing  but  the 
movement  of  a  vast  machine  in  the  measured 
roll  of  the  universe.  Christ's  Incarnation  is  the 
crowning  evidence  of  God's  purpose  to  teach  us 
"  the  invisible  things  .  .  .  through  the  things 
that  are  made." 

The  daily  ministries  also  of  the  world  out- 
side of  us  are  constantly  bringing  near  to  us  the 
Providence  by  which  we  are  sustained.  The 
daily  bread   is  a  perpetual   sign   of  the  divine 


232 


THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION. 


presence.  The  farmer  sows  the  seed,  but  he 
cannot  control  the  unseen  power  which  crowns 
the  seed  with  the  abundant  harvest.  The  prod- 
ucts of  our  industry  arc  all  gathered  out  of  in- 
visible hands.  Let  a  man  look  through  them  to 
the  power  which  gives  the  increase,  and  he  will 
find  himself  in  communion  with  a  God  who 
cares  for  his  soul  as  w^ell  as  his  body.  He  will 
find  in  the  lavv'  of  material  growth  the  law  of 
spiritual  life.  He  will  be  able  to  understand  the 
logic  of  our  Lord's  saying,  when  He  drev/  (as 
He  so  often  did)  lessons  from  nature :  "  If  God 
so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which  to-day 
is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  how^ 
much  more  shall  He  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little 
faith!"  and  the  deep  significance  of  that  other 
saying :  "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall 
he  also  reap." 

And  so,  too,  the  various  relations  of  life  are 
the  shadows  of  divine  realities.  Viewed,  not  as 
permanent  forms,  but  as  the  figures  of  something 
higher,  holier,  truer,  they  are  full  of  meaning. 
The  child  learns  in  the  family  the  authority  of 
law  administered  in  love.  The  parent  is  taught 
the  sacredness  of  that  childish  trust  which  none 


THE  EyERLASrihlG  POSSESSION.  233 

but  a  fiend  would  betray,  and  he  may  know  from 
what  his  child  is  to  him  what  he  may  be  to  God. 
Fatherhood  and  motherhood  are  but  feeble  types 
of  that  which  is  possible  in  the  great  Father 
towards  those  who  trust  Him.  Marriage  reflects 
the  mystical  union  of  Christ  and  His  Church, 
and  brotherhood  is  the  image  of  the  heavenly 
society.  If  we  merely  look  at  the  forms  of  our 
temporal  life,  and  see  no  happiness  beyond  them, 
we  must  be  sorely  disappointed  when  they  fade 
away,  as  fade  they  must.  But  when  we  look 
through  them  to  the  eternal  life,  in  which  they 
are  to  be  glorified  and  immortalised,  we  know 
how  to  use  them  wisely,  and  secure  for  them, 
by  Christianising  them,  a  permanence  which  they 
could  not  hav^e  on  earth. 

But  not  only  do  things  temporal  shadow  forth 
divine  truths ;  they  form,  in  their  grouping 
around  each  life,  a  discipline  which  develops 
character  and  educates  us  for  the  heavenly  in- 
heritance. They  are  for  ever  changing,  and  to 
those  who  look  for  an  earthly  Canaan  life's 
racking  disappointments,  and  shifting  fortunes, 
and  desolating  sorrows  seem  to  make  it  a  vast 
wilderness.     They  dream  of  a  paradise  which 


234 


THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION. 


they  never  find.  They  try  to  make  for  them- 
selves a  resting-place, —  as  Lot  did  when  he 
pitched  his  tent  towards  Sodom, — but  God 
drives  them  out  by  some  fiery  providence  which 
consumes  their  hopes,  and  would  in  mercy  teach 
them  that  this  is  not  their  rest.  But  to  those 
who  see  in  the  earthly  Canaan  only  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  heavenly,  life's  changes  are  ordered 
in  God's  providence  for  a  blessed  purpose. 
The  kaleidoscope  reveals  only  darkness  and 
confusion  to  one  v/ho  will  not  look  through  it 
to  the  light ;  but  when  the  light  streams  in,  each 
turn  of  the  glass  reveals  some  new  form  of 
beauty.  When  we  look  through  the  present  to 
eternity,  and  see  that  present  in  the  hght  of 
heavenly  promise,  each  turn  of  the  glass,  though 
it  may  throw  our  plans  into  confusion,  and  break 
up  our  earthly  hopes,  and  desolate  our  home 
circle,  yet  discloses  some  new  and  blessed  ex- 
perience. Through  the  w^asting  of  our  material 
wealth  we  realise  in  our  souls  a  better  and  more 
enduring  substance.  Through  the  cares  and 
conflicts  and  disappointments  of  each  year  we 
see  more  of  the  Saviour's  preciousness  and 
power.     Through  the  bereavements  v/hich  spoil 


THE  El^ERLASTING  POSSESSION.  235 

our  earthly  attachments  we  enter  into  brighter 
experiences  of  heaven's  reality  and  love.  Faith 
sees,  when  the  tears  are  wiped  away,  that  all 
things  are  working  together  for  good. 

Faith,  you  perceive,  is  the  realising  and  sus- 
taining power  in  this  changing  world.  This  is 
its  high  oflfice.  It  has  well  been  called  the 
"  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen."  It  is  faith  which  sees  the 
heavenly  Canaan  reflected  in  the  earthly.  It  is 
faith  which  opens  the  door  of  the  ark,  and  bids 
hope  spread  its  wings,  like  the  dove,  and  bring 
back  some  oliv^e-leaf  plucked  ofT,  to  cheer  the 
imprisoned  soul  and  assure  it  of  the  rest  be- 
yond. It  is  faith  which  glorifies  the  present 
with  the  spirit  of  the  invisible,  and  makes  us 
content  to  be  pilgrims  and  strangers  on  the  earth. 
It  is  faith  which  pierces  the  angriest  storm-cloud 
and  sings  like  a  bird  in  the  upper  heavens  while 
the  lightnings  play  below.  It  is  faith  which, 
like  the  man  at  the  masthead  looking  over  the 
fog  and  guiding  the  ship  by  that  which  is  unseen 
to  those  below,  steers  a  straight  course  into  the 
peaceful  harbour. 

If  you  would  realise  the  joy  of  being,  you 


236  THE  EVERLASTING  POSSESSION. 

must  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.  Those  who 
walk  by  sight  only,  believing  nothing  which 
their  senses  cannot  perceive,  make  the  world 
their  dungeon.  Their  noblest  faculties  wither 
in  the  gloom,  and  though  they  may  revel  for  a 
little,  the  walls  close  round  them  and  the  dun- 
geon becomes  their  tomb.  The  eyes  of  the  soul 
are  darkened,  and  they  see  only  the  bare,  cold 
walls  of  their  dwelling.  Faith  is  the  soul's  sec- 
ond sight ;  it  sees,  through  the  earthly  and  the 
temporal,  things  unseen  and  eternal.  It  is  not 
a  sickly  sentiment,  opposed  to  the  practical  and 
exercised  apart  from  the  common  life.  It  sees 
a  beauty  in  nature,  and  breathes  in  an  exhilara- 
tion from  the  everlasting  hills  which  the  unbe- 
liever knows  not.  It  finds  a  meaning  in  the 
pure  relations  of  life,  and  gleans  lessons  from 
them,  which  make  them  ever  sacred.  It  digni- 
fies the  commonest  task,  and  enables  the  man 
in  his  counting-house  or  at  the  bench  to  do 
immortal  work  by  doing  all  to  the  glory  of  God. 
It  reveals  to  the  mourner  a  Saviour  in  every 
sorrow,  and  down  through  the  years  of  our  pil- 
grimage, and  beyond  the  burial-place  which 
awaits  every  one  of  us,  it  discloses  the  better 


THE  EyERLA STING   POSSESSION.  237 


country,  the  land  which  is  to  be  our  everlasting 
possession — the  pearly  gates  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem. 

Learn,  then,  as  you  look  into  the  shadowy 
future  stretching  away  before  you,  how  to  use 
the  present  life.  Don't  rest  your  hopes  upon 
it;  don't  seek  satisfaction  from  it;  don't  ex- 
pect permanency  in  it.  Some  of  us  who  cher- 
ish high  hopes  now  may  before  another  dawn 
have  found  only  the  possession  of  a  burial-place. 
But  while  we  VvTould  not  have  you  rest  in  and 
idolise  the  temporal,  we  would  have  you  look 
through  it  into  the  divine  life  which  it  shadows 
forth, —  recognising  the  royal  Giver  in  His  gifts, 
and  honouring  Him  in  their  use, —  entering  into 
the  eternal  society  of  which  the  home  circle  is 
the  transient  image, —  heeding  the  duties  which 
press  upon  you  in  your  business  as  duties  which 
He  commands, — accepting  the  trials  which  meet 
you  as  stern  but  merciful  preceptors, — and  de- 
veloping through  all  life's  changes  faith,  hope, 
patience,  charity, —  in  a  word,  the  character 
which  shall  qualify  you  for  that  higher  life 
when  we  shall  have  put  off  the  masks  of  the 
flesh  and  stand  as  we  really  are  before  our  God. 


XIII. 


(( 


MV  ^oru  and  MV  ^^*'' 


XIII. 
"MY    LORD    AND    MY    GOD." 

Thomas  answered  and  said  tinto  Him,  My  Lord  and 
ffiy  God.^^ST.  John  xx.  28. 

THOMAS  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  risen 
Christ.  The  other  disciples  had  told  him, 
"  We  have  seen  the  Lord."  Doubting,  he  had 
repHed :  "  Except  I  shall  see  in  His  hands  the 
print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the 
print  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  into 
His  side,  I  will  not  believe."  The  Christ  now 
offered  to  him  sensible  proof —  the  scarred  hands 
and  side.  But  doubt  vanished  like  a  flash. 
There  was  something  in  that  presence  that 
wrought  instantaneous  conviction.  He  seems 
not  to  have  accepted  the  proffered  test  of  real- 
ity. He  was  convinced  of  the  fact  that  Christ 
had  risen  from  the  dead,  and  more, — much 
more, — he  realised  in  the  profoundest  depths 
of  his  feeling,  as  by  a  sudden  revelation,  all  that 
241 


242  ''MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD." 

the  fact  meant  for  him  personally.  He  gives  us 
the  fullest  confession  of  faith  that  had  yet  been 
made  by  any  of  the  disciples :  "  My  Lord  and 
my  God."  This  confession  has  peculiar  interest 
for  us,  because  it  stands  midway  between  the 
faith  of  the  disciples  before  the  resurrection  and 
that  which  afterwards  united  them  in  a  closer 
spiritual  relation  to  their  Lord.  It  is  the  very 
full  expression  of  that  which  must  unite  us  to  a 
risen  and  Hving  Lord,  "  He  that  liveth,  and  was 
dead;  and  behold,  He  is  alive  for  evermore." 
But  Thomas  stood  in  the  presence  of  his  Lord. 
He  sazv  and  believed.  How  then  can  his  faith 
be  taken  as  the  standard  of  the  faith  to  which 
we  are  called?  Our  Lord,  anticipating  the 
period  of  His  absence  in  which  we  live,  adds 
the  saying,  "  Because  thou  hast  seen  me,  thou 
hast  believed :  blessed  are  they  that  have  not 
seen,  and  yet  have  believed."  It  is  possible, 
then,  for  us  to  stand  in  his  relation  of  absolute, 
personal,  glad  conviction,  "  not  having  seen." 
Let  us  seek  to  understand  how  this  may  be. 

Thomas  believed  because  he  saw;  but  that 
which  he  saw  was  not  the  wJiole  of  that  zvhich 
he  believed.    That  which  he  saw  was  the  ground 


"A/y  LORD   AND   MY   GOD."  243 

of  a  faith  in  something  which  he  did  not  see 
with  the  bodily  eyes.  His  confession  was  not 
the  cold  assent  of  an  intellect  convinced  of  a 
fact  about  Christ  by  sensible  proof.  He  did 
not  look  at  the  scars  and  say :  "  I  am  convinced 
that  the  stories  are  true,  and  that  you  have  actu- 
ally risen  from  the  dead."  He  looked  through 
this  fact  to  the  glory  of  the  divine  Person  which 
—  as  in  a  burst  of  light — it  revealed  to  him. 
It  was  not  the  reason  only,  but  warm  spiritual 
affections  and  perceptions,  which  spoke  in  the 
exclamation,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God."  That 
which  he  saw  through  the  veil  of  a  visible  pres- 
ence remains  to  us.  It  is  true  that  the  person 
of  Christ  is  only  known  to  us  through  certain 
authentic  records,  compiled  by  persons  who 
lived  and  w-alked  with  Him  on  earth  more  than 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  Those  ancient 
records  stand  in  the  place  of  that  bodily  form 
which  Thomas  saw.  I  am  disposed,  however, 
to  think  that  the  proof  of  Christ's  having  lived, 
died,  and  risen  again  is  quite  as  strong  for  us  in 
them  as  the  sensible  proof  was  for  Thomas.  If 
Christ  had  continued  to  manifest  Himself  visibly 
on  the  earth  as  He  did  to  Thomas,  the  critics, 


244  ^' ^Y  LORD  AND  MY  GOD." 

who  have  no  moral  sympathy  with  nor  capabihty 
of  perceiving  the  meaning  of  the  fact,  would 
still  find  reason  tp  discredit  the  evidence  of  their 
senses,  as  they  do  the  historic  testimony, — 
"  Neither  would  they  be  persuaded,  though  one 
rose  from  the  dead."  We  have  the  vi^ritten 
records.  We  may  look  at  them  with  the  cold, 
critical  gaze  of  the  intellect,  and  find  abundant 
evidence  that  such  a  man  as  Jesus  Christ  really 
lived,  suffered,  died,  and  even  rose  again.  We 
may  accept  the  evidence,  but  He  will  only  be 
to  us  as  any  other  historic  character  of  the  past. 
We  shall  have  accepted  certain  facts  about  Christ, 
but  fall  very  far  short  of  the  faith  of  Thomas. 
We  shall  be  just  where  he  would  have  been  if, 
accepting  the  sensible  proofs  of  Christ's  having 
risen,  he  had  believed  the  fact,  and  failed  to 
perceive  and  receive  the  divine  personality  which 
it  disclosed  to  him.  There  are  many  who  feel 
the  wisdom  of  Christ's  teaching  and  the  power 
of  His  example ;  but  they  never  get  beyond  this. 
They  are  like  persons  who  have  no  soul  to  feel 
the  power  of  the  masterpiece  of  sculpture  or  of 
painting.  A  Raphael's  "  Madonna  "  is  only  to 
them  a  mass  of  coloring,  or  the  "  Apollo  "  a 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY   GOD."  245 

skilfully  carved  stone.  The  genius,  the  feeling, 
the  thought,  which  li\-c  in  these  works,  they  have 
no  capacity  to  appreciate.  They  miss  entirely 
the  beauty,  enjoyment,  and  living  power  of 
works   of   genius. 

There  is  within  the  external  facts  of  the 
gospel,  or  rather  shining  out  through  them,  a 
beauty  of  moral  character  which  has  made  itself 
felt  and  been  a  convincing  power  in  every  age. 
Every  man  who  is  alive  in  his  perceptions  to  the 
attractions  of  goodness,  purity,  and  truth  is 
compelled  to  reverence  the  character  of  Christ. 
We  have  a  most  striking  illustration  of  this  fact 
in  the  language  of  one  of  the  leaders  of  that 
movement  towards  religious  reform  which  has 
made  memorable  in  India  the  last  half-century. 
"  Our  business,"  he  writes,  "  is  with  the  spiritual, 
universal,  and  living  Christ.  Not  the  Son  of 
man,  but  the  Son  of  God,  in  Christ,  is  needful 
for  our  salvation.  In  the  purely  human  Christ 
we  can  hardly  feel  any  interest ;  but  the  divine 
elements  of  His  character  come  home  to  every 
man's  bosom  and  business,  and  are  of  the  high- 
est importance  to  our  redemption  as  involving 
the  eternal  and   universal  principles  of  ethics. 


246  "MY  LORD  AhID  MY  GOD." 

He  does  not  come  to  us  as  God,  the  Father, 
Ruler,  and  Saviour,  in  human  form ;  nor  is  He 
to  us  a  mere  good  man  who  hved  a  pious  life 
and  died  a  noble  death.  He  stands  before  us 
always  as  the  incarnation  of  faith  and  loyalty  to 
God,  an  example  of  self-sacrificing  devotion  to 
truth.  He  is  to  be  accepted  in  spirit,  and  con- 
verted into  an  internal  fact  of  our  life.  He  is  to 
live  in  us  perpetually  as  the  spirit  of  godliness. 
We  do  not  care  to  believe  in  an  outward  and 
dead  Nazarene;  but  we  do  care  to  assimilate 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  to  our  souls.  Thus  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  shall  constantly  abide  in  us  as  the 
living  Christ!"  Such  was  the  power  of  Christ 
over  a  mind  struggling  honestly  through  the 
darkest  prejudice  towards  moral  truth  ;  interest- 
ing because  showing  how  powerful  the  person- 
ality of  Christ  is,  and  how  it  emerges  from  the 
historic  facts,  and  how  men  who  love  righteous- 
ness perceive  and  feel  its  influence.  "  Having 
not  seen,  they  have  in  some  sort  believed." 

But  this  perception  of  moral  beauty  and  power 
in  Him  still  falls  short  of  that  full  perception 
of  the  truth  which  Thomas  reached.  Keshub 
Chunder  Sen,  and  others  like  him,  who  reverence 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD."  247 

Christ  as  the  great  Master  in  righteousness,  stand 
where  the  believing  disciples  did  before  His 
resurrection.  They  called  Him,  with  an  ever- 
deepening  reverence,  "  Master  and  Lord." 
They  were  awed  by  something  in  Him  which 
was  more  than  human,  and  which  made  even 
the  emissaries  of  His  foes  turn  back  from  Him 
abashed,  saying :  "  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man."  But  they  did  not  perceive  the  real  truth 
of  His  personality.  It  vaguely  dawned  upon 
some  of  them,  but  not  as  a  full  realisation. 
They  caught  glimpses  of  the  truth  through  the 
correspondence  of  His  mighty  works  with  His 
more  than  human  character.  When  He  subdued 
the  storm,  they  cried  out :  "  What  manner  of 
man  is  this,  that  even  the  winds  and  the  sea 
obey  Him?  " — but  that  the  Man  was  God  they 
did  not  then  see.  It  was  not  until  they  stood 
in  the  presence  of  the  risen  Lord  that  the  full 
meaning  of  His  words,  in  answer  to  Philip's 
demand,  "  Show  us  the  Father,"  was  realised. 
"  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet 
hast  thou  not  known  me,  Philip?  he  that  hath 
seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  Here  Thomas 
stood ;    Christ  had  been  a  long  time  with  him, 


248  "MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD." 

and  yet  he  had  not  known  Him :  now  he  knew 
Him.  The  fact  of  the  resurrection  was  not  so 
much  a  proof  of  his  Lord's  divinity  as  it  was  a 
disclosure  of  the  divinity,  which  Thomas  had 
but  dimly  suspected  in  all  his  intercourse  with 
that  sinless  life  on  earth. 

That  which  he  perceived  in  the  fulness  of  its 
power,  we  too  may  see  and  feel  and  adore. 
In  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  we  have  a  con- 
firmation and  full  revelation  of  the  truth  of 
Christ's  person.  The  moral  beauty  of  His  char- 
acter is  defective  without  it.  If  we  leave  out 
this  fact,  and  look  at  Him  only  through  the  or- 
dinary human  conditions  of  His  life,  He  may  be 
to  us  an  ideal  character ;  but  the  ideal  is  in  our 
imagination ;  the  imagination  is  not  a  faithful 
reflection  of  the  original. — He  claimed  to  be 
that  which  He  was  not ;  He  said  that  He  would 
rise  from  the  dead,  and  He  did  not ;  His  word 
cannot  be  trusted,  for  events  falsified  it;  His 
proposed  work  of  redemption  failed ;  He  is  at 
best  only  a  memory,  which  has  no  power  to 
realise  in  us  the  life  which  He  promised  to 
impart.  It  may  be  said  that  He  "  lives  "  as  all 
great  men  live  —  by  the  force  of  their  example 


"MY  LORD  AND   MY  GOD." 


H9 


or  influence ;  but  the  expression  is  only  a  rhe- 
torical trope :  He  does  not  live  for  us,  personally 
and  potentially.  Here  is  the  defect  in  all  those 
partial  views  of  Christ  which  see  in  Him  only 
the  supremely  good  man,  and  not  the  risen,  liv- 
ing "Lord  of  all."  There  is  no  bridge  across 
the  gulf  which  yawns  between  our  incapacity 
and  the  ideal.  The  Hindoo  reformer  to  whom 
we  have  referred  saw  in  Christ  an  impersonation 
of  faith,  love,  righteousness,  and  sacrifice  which 
is  to  be  accepted  in  spirit  and  "  converted  into 
an  internal  fact  of  our  life  " ;  but  we  are  left  to 
do  the  converting  part  ourselves,  which  is  just 
that  which  we  cannot  do.  It  is  just  at  this  point 
that  we  need  a  Saviour.  Herein  resides  the 
peculiar  distinction  of  Christianity  over  every 
other  religious  system.  It  contains  within  itself 
the  converting  forces.  "  We  all,  with  unveiled 
face  reflecting  as  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image  from 
glory  to  glory." 

The  resurrection  explains  and  accounts  for  the 
transformations  of  character  Vv^hich  have  singu- 
larly marked  the  progress  of  Christianity.  It 
discloses  to  us  in  the  perfect  Lord  "  the  mighty 


250  "MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD." 

God,  the  everlasting  Father."  It  is  not  so  much 
a  proof  of  Christ's  divinity  as  the  necessary  and 
natural  manifestation  of  it.  If  we  look  only  at 
the  alleged  fact  we  are  staggered,  perhaps,  by 
the  phenomenal  event  of  a  man  who  had  died, 
rising  again.  But  when  we  look  through  the 
fact  to  the  Person  who  rose,  the  difficulties  van- 
ish;  the  mystery  of  the  human  hfe  is  solved; 
the  resurrection  becomes  a  revelation ;  it  clears 
up  all  that  was  strange  in  His  character,  words, 
deeds,  and  promises.  The  whole  truth  flashes 
upon  us,  and  finds  expression  in  Thomas's 
words:  "  My  Lord  and  my  God." 

This,  then,  is  the  faith  to  which  v/c  are  called 
and  by  which  we  may  realise  power.  It  is  the 
faith  of  personal  trust  in  a  living,  though  unseen, 
Christ.  He  lives  for  us,  as  our  representative 
before  high  Heaven,  and  in  us,  if  we  will,  by 
the  pov/er  and  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Not  a  dead  hero,  nor  a  reminiscence,  nor  an 
inspiring  example  merely,  but  the  divine  Sa- 
viour, living  in  all  the  tenderness  of  that  un- 
wearying love,  the  breadth  and  depth  of  that  sym- 
pathy, the  sovereignty  of  that  wisdom,  the 
patience  of  that  saving  purpose,  the  majesty  of 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD."  251 

that  truth,  righteousness,  and  redeeming  power, 
which  appeared  in  all  His  lowly  walk  among  the 
poor,  the  sick,  the  sad,  and  the  sin-burdened  on 
earth.  We  know  about  Him  through  the 
written  records.  The  critical  evidence  is  im- 
portant for  our  understandings,  but  He  was 
certainly  never  evolved  from  the  Jewish  con- 
sciousness of  the  writers.  He  is  manifestly 
above  them  and  earth  and  time.  We  see  Him 
alive  from  the  dead,  risen,  glorified,  evidently 
alive  for  evermore.  We  are  carried  out  of  the 
historic  records.  He  vanishes  out  of  our  sight. 
We  know  Him  now  no  more  in  time,  but  we  arc 
for  ever  in  communion  with  the  unseen  and  eter- 
nal, for  God  was  in  Christ.  He  has  not  left  us 
comfortless.  He  is  with  us,  by  His  Holy  Spirit, 
ruling,  teaching,  helping,  enlightening,  purify- 
ing— "  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  for  ever." 

I  have  tried  to  show  you  that  the  glory  which 
Thomas  saw  in  the  risen  Saviour  may  be  quite 
as'  close  and  real  and  living  for  us  as  for  him, 
because  it  is  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  blessedness  of  the  relation  in 
which  Thomas  stood  may  be  ours,  through  faith, 


252 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD." 


though  we  see  Him  not  But  observe  how  in- 
tensely personal  his  faith  was.  He  did  not  Sdiy, 
"Thou  art  indeed  the  Lord  and  God,"  but — like 
a  child  lost  in  a  dark,  bewildering  forest,  who 
suddenly  recognises  in  the  shadowy  form  ap- 
proaching him  his  own  seeking  father  —  he  ex- 
claimed:  "My 'Lord  and  my  God."  Christ  was 
never  after  that  a  character  of  the  past  to  him, 
nor  an  absent  Saviour.  He  vanished  out  of  his 
sight,  but  He  was  still  a  living  reality  to  him,  in 
the  same  experience  of  faith  as  that  which  St. 
Peter  describes  as  the  experience  of  all  believers, 
One  "  whom  having  not  seen  yc  love ;  in  whom, 
though  now  ye  see  Him  not,  yet  believing,  ye 
rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory : 
receiving  the  end  of  your  faith,  even  the  salva- 
tion of  3^our  souls." 

Christ  must  be  known  in  such  an  experience 
of  personal  revelation  and  personal  surrender, 
or  He  remains  outside  of  us  and  we  remain  un- 
blessed. Do  not  suppose  that  He  is  a  sort  of 
bartering  Lord,  who  demands  a  certain  quality 
or  degree  of  faith  as  a  condition  of  His  favour. 
It  is  simply  that  no  faith  which  is  not  personal 
trust  is  really  faith  in  Him  at  all.     It  may  be  an 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD.' 


253 


historic  or  prepositional  faith  about  Him;  but 
that  differs  as  widely  from  trust  on  Him  as  be- 
lief in  the  system  of  medicine  which  your  phy- 
sician practises  differs  from  confiding  yourself  to 
him  and  taking  his  medicine  when  you  are  sick. 
Personal  trust  realises  power,  because  it  is  a 
yielding  to  Christ  in  all  that  He  is,  and  would 
be,  to  us.  He  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks. 
If  any  of  you  are  not  blessed,  it  is  because  you 
will  not  let  Him  come  in.  You  will  not  yield 
to  Him  as  your  sovereign  Lord,  and  therefore 
He  is  not  in  you  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion. You  oppose  your  will  to  Him  at  some 
point.  He  cannot  be  Lord  and  God  to  you  if 
you  have  other  gods  than  Him.  The  gods  of 
your  ambition,  your  profit,  your  pleasure,  \-our 
pride,  must  be  cast  down.  Doubt  need  not 
stand  in  the  way.  Honest  doubt  \y\\\  perceive, 
through  the  shadow,  that  to  walk  as  Christ 
walked  is  the  true  righteousness.  Accepting 
this  truth,  and  doing  it,  the  doubter  will  soon 
emerge  from  his  darkness,  as  Thomas  did,  and 
confess  Christ  "  Lord  and  God."  But  there 
must  be  self-surrender.  "  He  that  will  save  his 
life" — his  present,  earthly,  selfish  life — "shall 


2S4 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY  COD." 


lose  life  "  ;  and  he  that  "  will  lose  his  life  " — his 
self-life — for  Christ's  sake  shall  find  the  true 
life.  That  is  the  law  of  Christ's  kingdom.  The 
trouble  with  many  of  us  is  that  we  do  not  trust 
Him  enough  to  risk  the  present  loss  and  give  up 
our  poor  scheme  of  life.  We  are  not  willing, 
for  His  sake, —  for  the  sake  of  the  righteousness, 
the  goodness,  the  eternal  glory,  which  He  rep- 
resents,— to  let  the  present  indulgences,  the 
possible  realisation  of  our  delusive  dreams,  go. 
The  trust  which  dares  to  do  it,  in  a  full  sur- 
render, realises  the  abiding  presence  and  power 
of  a  living  Christ.  "  I  am  crucified  with  Christ," 
said  St.  Paul ;  "  nevertheless  I  live ;  and  yet  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  That  was  a  real 
experience  for  him.  It  may  be  real  in  us. 
Knowing  Him  as  a  living  presence  with  our 
spirit,  we  know  the  Father. 

Do  we  not  need  above  all  things,  in  this  dark 
world,  to  find  and  know  our  God?  He  is  not 
far  from  every  one  of  us.  Let  me  tell  you  vrherc 
you  may  meet  Him.  Back  of  that  physical  ex- 
istence which  you  share  with  the  brute  creatures, 
and  back,  too,  of  that  which  you  call  your  out- 
ward life,  with  its  relations  and  obligations  and 


"MY  LORD  AND   MY   GOD."  255 


business,  there  is  the  hidden,  secret  Hfe  of  the 
soul.  Here  the  "  you,"  the  true  self,  Hvcs  and 
broods  and  knows  itself  as  the  world  cannot 
know  it.  Here  every  man  is  alone  ;  and  it  is  an 
awful,  gloomy  solitariness  to  many.  They  can 
find  nothing  better  to  do  in  life  than  to  seek 
diversion — something  which  will  make  them 
forget  themselves.  Here,  in  this  silent,  lonely 
chamber  of  your  self-consciousness,  every  one 
of  you  has  at  some  time  felt  the  brooding,  awful 
mystery  of  life.  Tlie  sense  of  yourself,  and  the 
awful  loneliness  of  your  being,  as  of  one  lost  under 
the  midnight  dreariness  of  an  arctic  sea,  has 
oppressed  you.  Here  every  one  of  you  has  felt 
at  times  a  longing  to  be  something  better  than 
he  is.  You  have  felt  the  shame  of  your  mean, 
low,  selfish  lives.  The  vision  of  something 
higher  and  nobler  has  passed  before  you,  and 
you  have  aspired  and  resolved ;  but  the  chains 
of  earthly  habit  have  been  too  strong  for  you. 
Here,  when  your  lives  have  been  made  desolate 
and  your  hearts  tempest-tossed  with  grief,  you 
have  longed  for  som.e  rift  in  the  overhanging 
clouds,  some  light  to  shine  through  from  the 
unseen  world,  some  glimpse  of  stars  in  the  deep, 


25G  "MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD." 

voiceless  azure  of  immensity,  to  save  you  from 
utter  despair.  It  is  here,  upon  the  threshold  of 
this  inner  room  of  our  being,  a  room  which 
opens  towards  the  infinities,  that  God,  in  Christ, 
waits  to  reveal  Himself.  You  have  felt  Him 
here,  every  one  of  you,  though  perhaps  you 
knew  Him  not,  pleading  with  you  to  turn  from 
your  sin  and  selfishness  and  yield  yourselves  to 
Him  and  His  service.  You  have  gone  out  from 
this  presence,  this  pleading  of  your  better  nature, 
and  tried  to  forget  it  amid  the  excitements  of  the 
world.  Oh,  to  give  up  resistance  and  in  the 
silence  and  secrecy  of  your  soul  to  confess  your 
need  and  sin  and  weakness,  to  see  in  His 
wounded  hands  and  side  the  pledges  of  the 
Father's  pardoning  love,  to  "  let  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ  "  shine  in  your  heart,  to  look  into 
that  face  with  an  absorbing  devotion  and  a  self- 
surrendering  trust,  saying  in  all  the  testimony 
of  your  life,  as  well  as  of  your  lips,  "  IMy  Lord 
and  my  God  "!  —  this  is  life  eternal,  for  it  Is  to 
know  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  He  hath 
sent.  Knowing  Jesus,  you  know  the  Father. 
Trusting  Him,  God  is  your  Father.     Yielding 


"MY  LORD  AND  MY  GOD."  257 

to  Him  in  the  obedience  of  love,  you  make  way 
for  God  to  take  possession  of  you  and  to  save 
you.  Living  out  of  yourself  in  self-devotion  to 
Christ,  you  live  in  a  new  world  of  fellowships, 
relations,  and  sympathies ;  you  live  above  the 
present,  in  the  communion  of  the  unseen  and 
eternal.  Drawn  out  of  your  own  selfishness  to 
Christ,  and  to  God  in  Christ,  you  have  found 
the  true  life  for  man. 


XIV. 


XIV. 
OTHER   MEN'S    LABOURS. 

And  herein  is  that  saying  true,  One  soweth,  and  an- 
other reapeth.  I  sent  yoii  to  reap  that  luheiron  ye 
bestowed  no  labour :  other  men  laboured,  and  ye  are 
entered  into  their  labours. — St.  John  iv.  37,  38. 

OUR  Lord  had  been  talking  with  the  Samari- 
tan woman.  She  was,  }-ou  remember,  at 
first  flippant,  then  interested,  then  serious,  and 
then  so  thoroughly  aroused  that  she  left  the 
vessel  which  she  had  brought  to  the  well,  and 
hurried  back  to  the  Samaritan  town  to  bid  her 
fellow- citizens,  "  Come,  see  a  man,  which  told 
me  all  things  that  ever  I  did :  is  not  this  the 
Christ?"  Meantime  the  disciples,  \\\\o  had 
gone  into  the  town  to  bu}^  food,  returned,  and 
urged  Him  to  eat.  But  He  answered :  "  My 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,  and 
to  finish  His  work."  The  ardour  of  His  soul 
for  God  and  truth  consumed  every  lower  feeling 
261 


262  OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 

and  lifted  Him  out  of  the  low  range  of  bodily 
necessities.  The  return  of  the  disciples  sug- 
gested their  part  in  the  joy  which  filled  His  own 
soul.  He  was  reluctant  to  leave  the  pure  heights 
in  which  His  mind  was  ranging,  and  descend 
to  ordinary  things.  The  budding  fields  were 
spread  out,  rich  with  promise,  before  Him. 
Beyond  them  was  the  Samaritan  town,  tie 
saw  the  people,  stirred  by  the  woman's  words, 
hastening  towards  Him.  Still  dreaming  of 
the  spiritual,  He  gathers  up  a  figure  from  the 
fields  and  travels  quickly  on  with  it  to  the  ap- 
proaching multitude :  "  Say  not  ye.  There  are 
yet  four  months,  and  then  cometh  harvest? 
behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your  eyes,  and 
look  on  the  fields,  for  they  are  white  already  to 
the  harvest."  "  See  how  quickly  the  seed  ripens. 
The  soil  is  ready  for  it.  The  Spirit  of  God  at- 
tends it.  Already  these  people  come  to  see  and 
inquire."  This,  He  goes  on  to  show,  is  a  field 
worth  toiling  in.  He  was  the  sower  who  went 
forth  to  sow.  The  disciples  were  to  be  the 
reapers.  Sure  and  happy.  He  would  have  them 
know,  would  be  the  reapers*  work.  "  He  that 
reapeth  receiveth  wages,"   or  a   reward.     You 


OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS.  263 

shall  have,  He  means,  a  present  joy,  a  real  satis- 
faction, a  continual  blessing,  in  doing  the  work, 
but  in  the  results  of  that  ministry  there  shall  be 
a  still  richer  compensation.  The  spiritual  reaper 
gathereth  fruit  unto  life  eternal.  The  results 
are  not  temporary  and  fading.  The  souls 
brought  into  the  kingdom  are  gathered  unto  the 
final  and  glorious  harvest  day  of  the  whole  crea- 
tion. Sovv-er  and  reaper  shall  share  a  common 
immortality.  They  shall  rejoice  together  in  the 
immortal  fruits.  Hence  there  shall  be  the 
reaper's  reward  in  the  present,  and  joy  with  the 
Sower  hereafter  when  He  shall  "  see  of  the  tra- 
vail of  His  soul,  and  be  satisfied." 

But  the  Master  remicmbers  that  the  sower's 
pain  must  precede  the  reaper's  perfect  joy. 
"  Herein,"  He  says,  with  a  touch  of  sadness  in 
His  tone,  "  is  the  saying  verified.  One  soweth, 
and  another  reapeth."  Though  we  shall  rejoice 
together,  yet  through  the  travail  of  my  soul  the 
harvest  shall  be  made  ready  for  your  reaping. 
"  I  sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  bestowed  no 
labour :  other  men  laboured,  and  ye  are  entered 
into  their  labours."  The  other  men  were  all 
those  agents,  patriarch,  lawgiver,  prophet,  which 


264  OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 

He  employed  from  the  foundation  of  the  world 
to  carry  on  His  work.  But  He  was  the  chief 
workman.  The  sowing  was  not  complete  until 
He  had  bathed  the  fields  with  His  own  blood, 
and  planted  Himself,  His  own  body,  as  a  seed 
in  the  furrows.  The  harvesting  did  not  fairly 
begin  until  He  had  "  risen  from  the  dead,  and 
become  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept." 

Now  the  principle  which  runs  through  all 
these  words  of  our  Lord  is  full  of  interest : 
"One  soweth,  another  reapeth."  All  lives  are 
related.  No  age  stands  apart  from  other  ages. 
No  life  can  disentangle  itself  from  obligations  to 
the  past,  nor  help  entering  into  responsible  re- 
lations v."ith  the  future.  Wc  take  up  the  loose 
ends  of  other  men's  labours,  and  throw  them  for- 
ward, to  be  taken  up  again  by  succeeding  gen- 
erations. Your  life  and  mine  are  single  threads 
in  the  fabric  which  stretches  across  the  whole  of 
time,  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  We  are 
truly  noble  and  useful  only  as  we  stand  in  rela- 
tion to  other  lives.  No  man,  or  body  of  men, 
accomplishes  a  finished,  independent  work.  The 
achievements  of  the  present  are  interlaced  with 
the   past,   and  the  same  busy,   invisible  hand 


OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS.  265 

which  is  at  work  in  all  time  will,  when  the 
workmen  of  to-day  have  passed  away,  weave 
their  work  into  the  life  of  the  future.  We  live, 
therefore,  not  in  breaths  and  years,  but  in  those 
inspirations  which  we  gather  from  the  undying 
mind  of  other  ages,  and  those  influences  which 
go  kindling  down  through  the  coming  genera- 
tions and  help  to  give  each  its  peculiar  character 
before  God.  Our  bodies  perish,  but  ourselves 
remain,  Avrought  into  the  substance  of  society, 
and  entering  into  active  combinations  whose 
results  only  the  analysis  of  the  last  day  can  fully 
disclose. 

But  we  must  give  more  definite  shape  to  the 
thoughts  which  the  principle  suggests.  It  re- 
minds us  of: 

I.    Our  indebtedness  to  the  past. 
II.   Our  accountability  to  the  future. 

I.  "  One  soweth,  and  another  reapeth." 
This  is  true  in  every  department  of  human  at- 
tainment. Where  is  the  profession  which  does 
not  gather  its  treasures  out  of  the  writings  and 
dear-bought  experiences  of  men  long  dead? 
What,  indeed,  is  the  learning  which  qualifies  for 
any  profession  but  the  studious  reaping  in  of 


266  OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 

harvests  which  others  have  sown  ?  The  mind  is 
enlarged,  trained,  quickened,  and  enriched  by- 
contact  with  the  fertile  genius  of  other  ages. 
The  taste  is  cultivated  and  latent  talent  inspired 
by  acquaintance  v/ith  its  architectural  and  artis- 
tic achievements.  Time  would  fail  us  to  tell 
how  largely  music,  poetry,  philosophy,  and  art 
owe  their  present  ripeness  to  impulses  drawn 
from  the  old  Greek  and  Italian  masters.  The 
peculiar  culture  which  our  scholars  attain  and 
our  colleges  seek  to  impart  is  gathered  from  the 
works  of  men  who  lived  twenty  centuries  back. 
We  talk  of  the  nineteenth  century  as  if  it  stood 
alone  and  its  attainments  were  due  exclusively 
to  the  people  who  li\"c  in  it.  It  is  true  that 
in  those  favoured  lands  where  liberty  presides  the 
free  mind  and  ready  skill  of  men  have  wrought 
grand  results.  But  what  strifes,  persecutions, 
and  blood  that  liberty  has  cost!  Through  the 
toils  and  tears  of  other  men  has  it  ripened  into 
the  peculiar  heritage  we  glory  in  to-day.  The 
real  distinction  of  the  age  consists  in  the  fact 
that  through  our  increased  facilities  for  acquir- 
ing knowledge  we  have  entered  more  largely 
than  any  other  into   the   labours   of  the  past. 


OTHER   MEN'S   LABOURS.  267 

The  thoughts  of  men  who  were  wiser  than  their 
time,  who  struggled  against  scorn  and  tyranny 
and  died  unappreciated,  are  brought  to  hght, 
honoured,  and  applied.  The  great  minds  of  every 
land  and  age  lay  their  treasures  at  our  feet. 
Commerce,  industry,  politics,  science,  art,  are 
rich  in  the  harvests  of  thought  and  experience 
\vhich  they  reap  from  the  toils  of  centuries. 
Our  boasted  civilisation  is  the  fruit  of  conflict, 
pain,  and  sacrifice.  Ay,  its  best  elements  have 
sprung  from  the  cross  of  the  despised  Nazarene, 
the  man  Christ  Jesus. 

These  hasty  suggestions  disclose  to  us  what 
may  be  called  a  law  of  "  vicarious  suffering," 
wrought  into  the  constitution  of  human  society. 
The  world's  best  gifts  have  been  enjoyed  by 
those  who  did  not  labour  for  them.  Their 
authors,  discoverers,  or  inventors  more  often 
died  in  poverty  and  exile  than  amid  glory  and 
applause.  We  are  taught  by  such  examples 
that  goodness  and  truth  are  to  be  loved  for 
their  own  sake,  and  not  for  the  praise  we  may 
win  by  them.  To  advance  and  establish  them 
is  the  duty  of  the  individual.  He  will  not 
labour  in   vain.     There  is  an    immortality   in 


268  OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 

which  the  sower  shall  meet  the  reaper,  and  they 
shall  rejoice  together. 

Now  in  Christ  we  have  the  brightest  example 
of  this  self-devotion  to  the  most  vital  and  sacred 
interests  of  mankind.  He  seemed  to  have  failed 
when  the  stony  sepulchre  closed  round  Him. 
But  out  of  His  grave  sprang  new  light  and  life 
for  the  world.  Our  best  and  truest  blessings 
have  been  born  of  the  travail  of  His  soul.'  in 
Gethsemane  and  on  the  cruel  cross.  The  world 
bears  witness  to  this  fact  in  reckoning  a  new 
era  from  the  date  of  His  advent.  The  world's 
guilt  was  taken  away  by  His  one  great  sacrifice, 
the  weary,  burdensome  sense  of  it  from  every 
soul  which  chose  to  enter  into  His  grace  by 
faith.  The  Church  of  God  rose  out  of  the  chaos 
of  heathenism.  It  gave  to  the  world  a  ministry 
of  reconciliation,  sacraments  of  fellowship  and 
love,  and  rites  of  holy  worship.  It  set  in 
motion  forces  which  undermined  and  overturned 
the  strongholds  of  false  philosophy  and  degrad- 
ing superstition.  By  an  inward,  silent  operation 
through  heart  and  mind  and  character,  the  gos- 
pel, preached  and  taught, — though  it  struggled 
through  centuries  of  ignorance, —  has  wrought 


OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS.  269 

revolutions  of  opinion;  changed  our  modes  of 
thought;  elevated  our  conceptions  of  virtue; 
altered  our  standards  of  morality ;  quickened 
our  sensibilities ;  and  opened  our  perceptions  to 
the  bright  hopes  and  prospects  of  a  life  beyond 
the  grave.  It  has  entered  into  our  social  life ; 
reconstructed  the  family  relations;  glorified 
motherhood ;  lifted  woman  out  of  degradation  ; 
made  home  a  sanctuary ;  thrown  its  protecting 
arms  around  age  and  infirmity;  and  breathed 
the  healing  influence  of  that  "  charity  "  which 
"  sufTereth  long,  and  is  kind,"  through  all  our 
associations.  Some  one  has  said  that  "  the  debt 
of  literature  and  art  to  the  Bible  is  like  the  debt 
of  vegetation  to  light."  It  has  supplied  the 
seeds  of  thought,  the  suggestive  hints,  the  little 
germs,  the  dim  conceptions,  the  outlines  of 
some  of  the  sublimest  poems,  or  passages  of 
poems,  to  be  found  in  modern  literature.  It 
was  not  the  fault  of  Christianity  that  the  Church 
for  long  ages  seemed  to  obstruct  scientific 
thought.  It  was  the  inherent  vitality  of  Chris- 
tianity which  burst  the  bonds  when  the  time 
was  ripe  and  set  mind  free.  It  has  enlarged 
the  horizon  of  human  inquiry  and  opened  in- 


270  OTHER   MEN'S  L/iBOURS. 

finite  possibilities  which  are  inclusive  of  all  truth. 
It  has  purified  art  by  flooding  the  realm  of  taste 
with  new  and  holy  conceptions  of  beauty.  The 
painter  has  found  diviner  studies  and  loftier 
ideals  in  the  story  of  the  Christ  than  in  the  old 
mythologies.  The  musician  has  gathered  in- 
spiration from  that  story  for  the  sublimest  har- 
monies. Music  alone  could  express  that  which 
was  first  told  to  the  v/orld  in  the  song  of  angels. 
It  has  worked  like  leaven  among  the  nations, 
and,  fermenting  in  the  minds  of  men,  driven  off 
oppression,  wrought  mighty  reformations,  over- 
turned corrupt  institutions,  and  made  way  for 
freedom.  It  was  the  direct  inspiration  of  the 
institutions  under  which  we  live  and  to  which 
we  owe  our  greatness.  If  they  fail,  it  will  be 
because  we  were  not  worthy  of  them. 

Every  department  of  our  modern  life  has  thus 
been  reached  and  influenced  by  the  gospel.  The 
joys  of  your  home,  the  protections  of  society, 
the  refinements  which  wealth  brings,  the  sym- 
pathy and  tenderness  of  friends,  the  pleasures  of 
knowledge,  the  hopes  and  consolations  which 
sustain  you  in  sorrow,  the  consciousness  of  God's 
favour,  the  enjoyment  of  His  grace,  the  ecstasy 


OTHER   MEN'S  LABOURS. 


271 


of  hope,  the  communion  of  kindred  hearts  in 
one  love — all,  all  have  been  secured  to  us  by 
the  living  and  dying  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
"  He  laboured,  and  we  have  entered  into  His 
labours." 

n.  Our  indebtedness  to  the  past  involves  an 
accountability  to  the  futiLve.  "  Other  men  shall 
enter  into  our  labours."  If  we  apply  this 
thought  to  men  collectively,  our  view  of  the  age 
is  at  once  widened.  The  age  does  not  "  live 
unto  itself  "  any  more  than  the  individual.  We 
must  not  judge  it  by  itself  alone.  It  may  seem 
like  a  period  of  wild  unsettlings,  but  the  plough 
and  the  harrow  have  their  work  to  do.  We 
live,  each  one  of  us,  in  our  little  day.  We  can- 
not see  the  v/hole  development  as  it  is  in  His 
sight  to  whom  "  a  thousand  years  is  as  one  day, 
and  one  day  as  a  thousand  years."  The  great 
Husbandman  is  over  all.  The  wheat  and  the 
tares  must  continue  to  grow  together.  There 
will  be  wheat,  and  there  will  be  tares.  The 
harvest  which  some  future  age  shall  reap  may 
be  better  than  we  think.  "  Judge  nothing  be- 
fore the  time,  until  the  Lord  come,  who  will 
both  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  dark- 


OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 


ness,  and  make  manifest  the  counsels   of  the 
heart." 

But  there  is  no  uncertainty  about  our  duty  as 
individuals.  "  To  whomsoever  much  is  given, 
of  him  shall  much  be  required."  Our  life  in 
the  present,  separated  from  all  considerations  of 
duty  and  immortality,  is  a  bare  animal  exis- 
tence. It  becomes  sublime  when,  by  fidelity  to 
the  good  and  the  true,  we  weave  it  into  the 
chain  of  God's  holy  purposes  and  so  make  our- 
selves sharers  in  the  glorious  immortality  which 
is  pledged  to  them.  Oh,  then  "  it  is  not  all  of 
life  to  live,  nor  all  of  death  to  die."  Our  char- 
acters and  deeds  will  be  working,  vital  forces 
after  we  are  gone.  We  shall  have  entered  into 
the  corporate  life  of  humanity.  But  that  is  not 
all.  At  the  great  harvest  day  sower  and  reaper 
shall  rejoice  together.  We  can  trace  through 
the  centuries  of  history  the  deathless  influence 
of  human  lives,  and  see  how  their  good  or  bad 
perpetuates  itself.  Indeed,  history  has  no  more 
impressive  lesson  for  us  than  the  lesson  of  its 
sowings  and  its  reapings.  Even  we  can  look 
back  and  see  what  work  there  will  be  for  the 
angel  reapers  by  and  by.     So  must  the  future 


OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 


273 


of  each  one  of  us  be.  Not  only  will  those  who 
live  after  us  feel  our  influence,  but  beyond  them 
still,  surveying  the  whole  field  of  human  action, 
is  God,  the  Judge,  and  "  He  requireth  that  which 
is  past." 

What,  then,  is  our  present  duty?  The  day 
of  toil  is  short.  The  time  for  reaping  may 
come  quickly  to  an  end.  The  sunset  may  be 
very  near  for  more  than  one  of  us.  The  question, 
therefore,  is  an  urgent  one.  To  live  as  if  we 
had  no  duty  beyond  the  present,  as  if  neither 
society  nor  God  had  any  claim  upon  us,  as  if 
the  pleasure  of  our  own  hearts  were  the  only 
law  to  be  consulted,  is  an  awful  waste  of  divine 
possibilities.  It  is  to  bury  our  talent  in  the 
earth,  and  defraud  the  future  and  ourselves 
of  the  inheritance  which  belongs  to  both.  To 
use  God's  gifts  as  if  we  were  their  sole  proprie- 
tors, to  withhold  good  from  those  to  whom  it  is 
due,  while  we  waste  mind  and  time  and  strength 
in  hoarding  up  wealth,  is  to  rob  God  and  wrong 
our  own  souls.  To  sift  greedily  from  our  mixed 
inheritance  of  good  and  evil  only  the  evil, — sen- 
sual pleasures,  infidel  opinions,  corrupt  practices, 
selfish  maxims, — to  propagate  them  in  profane, 


274 


OTHER  MEN'S  LABOURS. 


selfish,  unprincipled  lives,  rejecting  the  pure,  the 
spiritual,  and  the  true,  is  to  rank  ourselves  with 
the  dark  enemy  of  God,  and  lay  up  in  store 
against  the  judgment   "fuel  for  burning." 

Surely  it  is  obvious  that  the  part  of  a  true 
man  is  so  to  live  that  his  life  may  tell — "  tell  on 
ages,  tell  for  God."  The  law  of  life  is  to  live 
up  to  the  fulness  of  the  divinity  which  is  in  us, 
and  not  merely  to  be.  Our  first  duty  is  to 
make  our  own  characters  fruitful.  We  can  only 
do  this  by  opening  our  hearts  to  the  power  of 
the  Christ  and  sufTering  His  sharp  truth  to  plough 
through  our  pride  and  break  up  our  fallow 
ground.  We  can  only  do  this  by  entering  into 
the  sonship  which  He  has  manifested  and  made 
possible  for  us.  We  can  only  do  this  by  listen- 
ing to  the  voice  of  God  dwelling  in  us,  and 
walking  worthy  of  Him,  in  all  purity  and  good- 
ness and  truth. 

Living  thus  in  trustful  surrender  to  the  love 
and  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  shall  have  our 
fruit  unto  holiness.  Our  personal,  though  un- 
conscious, influence  will  be  for  good:  and  not 
only  so ;  every  impulse  of  our  hearts  will  be  to 
make  the  world  better  and  brighter  and  happier 


OTHER   MliN'S   LABOURS.  275 

for  our  living.  It  is  certainly  a  truth,  and  one 
alike  to  encourage  and  warn,  that  the  grave 
will  not  end  our  influence  in  time.  We  hold 
within  ourselves  forces  and  influences  which 
work  upon  our  children  and  our  friends,  and 
through  them  upon  society,  and  will  be  repro- 
ducing themselves,  for  good  or  for  bad,  long 
after  we  are  gone.  Some  of  us  may  be  think- 
ing that  our  course  in  life,  if  it  be  selfish  and 
for  evil,  concerns  only  ourselves  personally  ;  but 
"  no  man  liveth  unto  himself,  and  no  man  dieth 
unto  himself."  When  the  great  harvest  day 
shall  come,  sower  and  reaper  shall  meet  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  of  the  harvest.  Then,  if 
we  have  lived  only  for  ourselves,  we  shall  have 
to  meet  the  doom  of  unprofitable  servants ;  or, 
worse  than  profitless,  we  may  find  ourselves  re- 
sponsible for  whole  harvests  of  tares  which  we 
by  our  evil  lives  sowed  in  God's  field.  It  is 
said  that  there  are  whole  pages  in  the  Domes- 
day-book of  England  upon  which  is  written  the 
word,  "  Waste,  waste,  waste."  They  tell  the 
story  of  the  vindictive  invasion  of  William  the 
Conqueror.  How  many  lives  are  like  that  in 
the   sight  of  God!    Whole  pages  of  days  and 


276  OTHER  MEN'S   LABOURS. 

years  which  tell  one  story  of  waste — waste  of 
talent,  time,  manhood,  opportunity,  influence, 
and  of  the  divine  forbearance. 

But  if  you  choose  the  good,  the  right,  the 
true,  the  pure,  you  will  be  sowing  ever-flower- 
ing influences  which  shall  bear  their  harvests  of 
blessing  long  after  you  have  gone.  The  angel 
reapers  may  bring  ripe  sheaves  at  the  last  and 
call  them  yours,  which  you  scarce  dare  to  own. 
Your  life,  which  may  seem  at  the  close  of  its 
brief  day  so  profitless,  showing  little  more  in  the 
retrospect  than  the  daily  round,  the  common 
task,  may  be  found  rich  in  fruits  which  ripened 
long  years  after  the  sun  had  set  for  you.  Then 
sower  and  reaper  shall  rejoice  together!  You 
may  have  gone  forth  "  weeping,  bearing  precious 
seed";  then  you  shall  "come  again  with  joy, 
bringing  your  sheaves  with  you." 


XV. 

malitu  in  t\)t  €i)n^tian  Uft. 


XV. 

REALITY    IN   THE   CHRISTIAN 
LIFE. 

Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  7ne,  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  info  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but  he  that  doeth  the 
ivill  of  my  Father  wliich  is  in  heaven.  —  St.  Matt. 
vii.  2  1. 


WISH  that  Christian  people  reaHsed  more 
vividly  than  they  do  that  the  most  unan- 
swerable argument  for  Christianity  is  a  Christian 
life.  This  is  the  sort  of  demonstration  v^hich 
the  world  needs  to-day.  When  the  telegraphic 
wires  fail  to  transmit  a  message,  men  do  not 
pronounce  the  whole  telegraphic  system  a  fraud  ; 
they  know  that  there  is  some  break  in  the  lines 
or  derangement  of  the  batteries.  When  Chris- 
tianity fails  to  appear  in  the  lives  of  those  who 
are  called  Christians,  the  world  is  ready  to  say 
the  whole  thing  is  false.  This  is  unreasonable, 
but  it  illustrates  our  responsibility  as  professors 
2  79 


28o        REALITY  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

of  religion.  If  we  expect  Christianity  to  pre- 
vail, we  must  show  that  it  is  a  power.  We  are 
the  lines  along  which  the  power  may  and  ought 
to  move.  If  the  power  seems  to  fail,  it  is  not 
because  there  is  no  power,  but  because  there  is 
a  break  in  the  lines  which  should  transmit  the 
power.  Now,  I  propose  to  speak  of  reality  in 
the  Christian  life.  Our  Lord  sets  it  forth  in  the 
text,  contrasting  it  with  the  mere  form  or  ap- 
pearance of  religion.  He  says  that  no  one  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom,  of  heaven  who  does  not 
do  something  more  real  than  call  Plim  "  Lord, 
Lord!"  The  test  of  reality  is  doing  the  will  of 
His  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  No  professions, 
forms,  words,  feelings,  are  real  without  this.  I 
do  not  forget  that  Christianity  must  have  its  out- 
ward forms  and  expressions.  He  does  not  con- 
demn these.  "With  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness;  and  with  the  mouth  con- 
fession is  made  unto  salvation."  But  the  out- 
ward forms  are  nothing  if  they  are  not  the 
expressions  of  a  living,  moving,  controlling 
principle.  I  like  that  word  "  real."  It  means 
something  which  is  sound  through  and  through. 
It  means  something  which  is  not  afraid  to  face 


REALITY  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.        281 

the  light;  something  which  is  not  afraid  to  be 
sifted ;  something  which  is  what  it  seems  to  be. 
Men  in  these  days  are  rightly  impatient  of  shams. 
They  look  sharply  into  things,  and  they  detect 
shams  in  others,  even  though  they  may  be  coun- 
terfeit themselves.  They  expect  practice  to  be 
plumb  with  professions.  They  generally  respect 
consistency,  and  know  it  when  they  see  it. 
What  might  not  the  Christian  Church  do,  in 
every  community  where  it  is  planted,  if  all  the 
influence,  wealth,  talent,  and  energy  which  are 
nominally  on  its  side  Vv^ere  really  Christian — 
that  is,  really  consecrated?  It  is  startling  to 
think  that,  not  being  so,  many  must  be  of  those 
of  whom  the  Saviour  says,  "  They  shall  not 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Outside  of  it 
now,  they  are  in  danger  of  being  left  in  the 
outer  darkness  when  the  Bridegroom  comes. 
But  we  will  pass  directly  to  the  point  of  our 
Saviour's  words.  "To  do  God's  will"  is  the 
test  or  measure  of  reality  in  the  Christian  life. 
I.  And  first  let  us  bring  to  the  test  our  pro- 
fessions of  fait Ji.  Of  course,  professions  are 
false  if  the  faith  professed  is  not  genuine. 
Obedience  is  essential  to  the  (^fcnuinencss  of  faith. 


282         REALITY  IN   THE   CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

There  is  nothing  contradictory  to  the  doctrine, 
"  By  grace  are  ye  saved,  through  faith,"  in  our 
Lord's  requirement  of  obedience.  He  tells  us, 
as  you  remember,  in  another  place,  "  This  is  the 
v/ill  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He 
hath  sent."  But  faith  is  the  purest  form  of 
obedience.  It  is  not  the  mere  assent  of  the 
intellect  to  the  truth  about  Christ.  It  is  the 
surrender  of  the  whole  man  to  Him.  It  in- 
volves the  giving  up  of  the  will  to  His  rule. 
Nothing  less  than  this  can  satisfy  the  demands 
of  the  gospel,  or  avail  to  save  our  souls.  We 
come  to  Christ  to  be  saved  from  sin.  His  aton- 
ing blood  is  the  pledge  of  pardon  to  those  who 
believe ;  but  we  cannot  honestly  believe  that  we 
are  pardoned  if  in  the  determined  purpose  of 
our  soul  we  are  not  at  war  with  the  sin  which 
crucified  Him.  We  realise  the  assurance  of  par- 
don, in  the  dawning  of  a  new  life,  by  working 
with  Christ  to  overcome  sin  and  be  righteous. 
This  is  our  repentance.  The  man  who  really 
submits  to  the  power  of  the  cross  is  ever  repent- 
ing—  not  merely  feeling  self-condemned  and 
sorry,  but  ever  turning  with  a  steady  will  from 
darkness  to  light.      So  faith  works ;  and,  work- 


REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.         283 

ing  repentance,  must  there  not  be  a  very  real 
obedience  in  it?  Is  not  the  constant  crucifix- 
ion of  self  and  the  world  a  very  real  thing?  Do 
you  profess  to  believe,  and  have  there  not  been 
times  in  your  experience  when  Christ's  Vv'ill 
seemed  to  cross  your  dearest  inclinations  ;  when 
His  promises  seemed  vague  and  distant  com- 
pared with  the  present  delights  which  the  world 
offers ;  when  some  easy,  flowery  course  of  sin 
has  opened  before  }'-ou,  and  made  His  way  look 
hard  and  uninviting,  or  the  scruples  and  per- 
plexities and  self-denials  of  His  service  made 
the  yoke  chafe  so  that  you  have  almost  been 
tempted  to  throw  it  off  ?  To  take  the  hard  and 
uninviting  way  when  we  reach  these  cross-roads 
of  temptation,  to  let  the  present  delights  go  and 
venture  all  upon  the  vague  and  distant  promises, 
to  nail  the  inclinations  and  thoughts  and  pas- 
sions to  the  cross  when  they  oppose  His  will,  to 
bear  the  yoke  manfully  when  it  chafes,  remem- 
bering who  fainted  and  died  under  the  burden 
of  our  guilt — this  is  the  work  of  a  real  faith. 
They  do  err  who  suppose  that  faith  is  a  cold 
assent  to  certain  truths,  or  a  mere  emotion. 
The  further  a  true  believer    travels    on   in  a 


284        REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

Christian  life,  the  more  keenly  does  he  realise 
that  to  walk  by  faith  involves  duties  and  con- 
flicts and  self-denials.  If  the  faith  which  you 
profess  does  not  bring  your  thoughts  into  cap- 
tivity to  the  obedience  of  Christ,  and  overcome 
your  lusts,  and  repel  your  temptations,  and 
make  you  honest  and  true  and  useful  in  your 
daily  life,  it  is  not  Christ's  fault.  Your  faith  is 
not  real.  You  do  not  want  to  be  saved.  You 
may  want  and  hope  to  be  saved  from  eternal 
punishment  hereafter,  but  you  do  not  want  to 
be  saved  from  sin  now.  If  you  did,  you  would 
have  but  one  controlling  purpose  in  life,  namely, 
to  do  God's  will,  whenever  it  may  speak  in  your 
consciences,  and  wherever  it  may  lead,  or  what- 
ever it  may  cost. 

But  faith  not  only  works  out  obedience  by 
repentance:  it  sets  in  motion  that  most  active 
and  inclusive  of  all  principles — love.  In  turn- 
ing away  from  sin  we  bring  ourselves  under  the 
light  and  love  of  our  Saviour.  A  real  faith, 
learning  more  and  more  of  Christ's  sufficiency, 
works  by  love,  and  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law.  If  a  man  is  moved  by  this  principle,  he 
cannot  be  satisfied  merely  with  avoiding  evil 


REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.         285 

and  doing  mechanically  his  duty.  He  will  be 
ready  to  glorify  Christ,  to  do  more  than  he 
must,  to  give  more  than  his  tenth,  to  overjioiv  in 
good  words  and  works.  The  obedience  which 
love  compels  cannot  be  measured.  It  imposes 
numberless  duties,  and  makes  them  easy.  It 
requires  that  you  shall  suffer  long,  and  be  kind, 
that  you  shall  envy  not,  that  you  shall  not  be 
puffed  up,  nor  behave  yourself  unseemly,  that 
you  shall  not  seek  your  own,  nor  be  easily  pro- 
voked, nor  even  think  evil.  It  bubbles  up  like 
a  pure  spring  of  water  breaking  out  in  a  stag- 
nant pool,  clearing  away  impurity,  selfishness, 
deceit,  and  every  mean  affection.  Is  this  obe- 
dience? Is  this  doing  God's  will?  If  so,  there 
is  certainly  no  reality  in  faith  without  it;  for 
what  says  Paul  himself?  "If  I  have  all  faith, 
so  as  to  remove  mountains,  but  have  not  love, 
I  am  nothing." 

II.  We  have  applied  the  touchstone  to  our 
professions  of  faith.  Let  us  now  apply  it  to  our 
worship.  Obedience  is  necessary  to  make  ivor- 
sJiip  real. 

Worship  is  the  soul's  expression  of  reverence, 
love,  and  faith  towards  God,  in  forms  of  praise 


286        REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

and  prayer.  Our  own  service  gives  very  full 
and  beautiful  expression  to  the  spirit  of  worship. 
It  calls  us  in  the  penitential  sentences  to  ap- 
proach Him  humbly  and  penitently.  It  puts 
upon  our  lips  the  language  of  thorough,  heart- 
searching  confession.  It  declares  to  us,  "  being 
penitent,"  the  message  of  pardon.  Assuming 
that  we  are  exercising  a  hearty  repentance  and 
true  faith,  it  teaches  us  to  call  God  "  our  Father." 
The  burst  of  praise  follows,  and  then  the  Psalms 
of  David,  sweeping  all  human  experience,  and 
the  Word  of  life  for  hungry  souls  in  the  chap- 
ters read.  Having  cleansed  our  souls  by  the 
confession  of  sin,  and  being  strengthened  by  the 
promises  of  His  Word,  we  unite  our  petitions 
for  the  common  blessings  which  we  need.  All 
over  the  land,  the  congregations  of  our  people 
continually  engage  in  this  service.  Doubtless 
many  earnest,  honest  souls  engage  in  it  de- 
voutly, a.nd  their  prayers  and  their  praises  ascend 
as  sweet  incense  to  God.  But  could  we  pass 
from  church  to  church  in  our  cities  and  villages 
on  any  Lord's  day,  should  we  not  be  impressed 
by  a  general  lack  of  heartiness,  a  dreamy  list- 
lessness,    lifeless    responses?      Would     not     a 


RHALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.         2S7 

Stranger  to  it  all  gather  the  impression  that  it  is 
a  wearisome  formality  to  the  many?  Of  course 
I  make  allowance  for  human  infirmities.  He 
who  said  to  the  slumbering  disciples,  in  the  gar- 
den of  His  agony,  "  The  spirit  indeed  is  willing, 
but  the  flesh  is  weak,"  knoweth  whereof  we  are 
made,  and  can  have  compassion  on  our  infirmi- 
ties. But  the  spirit  of  the  disciples  was  willing. 
They  were  sincere  in  their  purpose  to  watch 
with  Him.  God  will,  indeed,  accept  an  honest, 
willing  spirit  in  worship,  even  though  the  flesh 
may  be  weak.  I  fear,  however,  that  much  of 
our  worship  has  not  the  willing  spirit  in  it. 
God  is  not  worshipped  "  in  spirit  and  in  truth  " 
— that  is,  171  reality.  Is  there  any  reality  in 
confessing  sins  which  we  do  not  intend  to  for- 
sake, in  praying  "  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will 
be  done.  .  .  .  And  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as 
we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us,"  if  we 
are  not  seeking  first  His  kingdom  and  righteous- 
ness, nor  submitting  habitually  to  His  will,  nor 
forgiving  those  who  trespass  against  us?  Is 
there  any  reality  in  hearing  psalms  and  hymns 
sung,  and  having  no  heart  in  the  sentiments  of 
prayer  and  praise  which  they  express  ?     Is  there 


288        REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 

any  reality  in  sitting  where  the  Word  of  God  is 
read,  and  not  taking  in  the  meaning  of  it  ?  Is 
there  any  reaHty  in  praying  the  "  good  Lord  to 
deliver  us  from  inordinate  and  sinful  affections, 
and  from  all  the  deceits  of  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil,"  when  we  mean  to  go  right  back 
to  those  deceits  and  continue  indulging  sinful 
affections?  Is  there  any  reality,  as  we  come 
to  the  Lord's  table,  in  seeming  to  consecrate 
"  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies,  to  be  a  reason- 
able, holy,  and  living  sacrifice,"  when  perhaps 
we  really  do  nothing  of  the  sort — when  we  in- 
tend to  please  ourselves  as  much  as  ever,  and 
hold  our  money  as  closely  as  before,  and  to 
serve  the  world  no  less,  and  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  its  appealing  interests  no  more  ?  Such 
worship  is  far  from  being  real,  and  if  He  who 
once  purged  the  Temple  of  its  profaners  should 
suddenly  come  to  our  assemblies,  what  would 
He  do?  what  would  He  say?  I  think  some- 
thing like  this  would  burst  from  His  lips :  "  Why 
call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things 
which  I  say?  " 

What,  then,  is  needed  to  make  our  worship 
real  ?     Is  it  that  the  clergy  do  not  read  the  ser- 


REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LITE.        289 

vice  well,  and  therefore  the  people  are  not  in- 
terested? There  is  room  for  much  improve- 
ment, I  admit ;  but  the  true  worshipper  will  not 
be  hindered  by  the  poorest  reading,  nor  v/ill  the 
finest  reading  make  the  heart  devout.  Will  a 
more  elaborate  and  impressive  ritual  quicken 
our  devotions  ?  There  is,  no  doubt,  help  for  the 
sincere  soul  in  ritual  —  up  to  a  certain  point ;  but 
the  feelings  which  are  excited  by  music  and 
ceremonies,  helpful  though  they  may  be,  are  no 
substitute  for  sincerity  of  heart.  They  may 
exist  when  there  is  no  purpose  to  do  God's  will, 
and  react  in  coldness  towards  Him.  The  bold 
words  of  the  honest  man  whose  blind  eyes  Christ 
opened  tell  us  Vv'hat  is  needed  to  make  our  wor- 
ship real :  "  If  any  man  be  a  worshipper  of  God, 
and  doeth  His  will,  him  He  heareth."  We  need 
the  spirit  to  honour  God  in  our  lives  as  we 
profess  to  honour  Him  with  our  lips,  to  forsake 
the  sins  which  we  confess,  to  do  the  righteous- 
ness which  we  pray  for,  to  take  the  truth  which 
we  hear  into  our  hearts  as  a  rule  of  life,  to  live 
for  the  kingdom  which  we  pray  may  come — the 
spirit,  in  a  word,  of  obedience.  Nothing  less  than 
this  can  make  our  worship  real.     Being  real  to- 


190 


RE/iLITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LI  IB. 


wards  God,  it  will  be  real  towards  men.  It  will 
mean  something  when  they  see  that  it  makes  us 
better  and  holier.  They  will  take  knowledge  of 
us,  when  we  come  out  of  our  churches,  that  God 
is  with  us  of  a  truth.  No  wonder  the  world 
cavils  at  it  when  it  sees  that  men  who,  profess- 
ing religion,  are  profane  or  sensual  or  unscru- 
pulous or  mean  on  Saturday,  are  just  as  profane, 
sensual,  unscrupulous,  or  mean  on  Monday.  It 
is  not  that  we  must  be  perfect  men  in  order  to 
realise  a  blessing,  but  that  in  our  hearts  we 
must  "will  to  do  His  will."  "If  I  regard 
iniquity  in  my  heart,"  said  the  psalmist,  "  the 
Lord  will  not  hear  m.e." 

III.  Again,  we  may  call  Christ  "  Lord, 
Lord  "  in  a  show  of  religious  emotions  and  sen- 
sibilities. Far  be  it  from  me  to  depreciate  feel- 
ing in  religion,  and  the  proper  expression  of  it. 
Christianity  appeals  to  our  deepest  emotions  and 
sensibilities.  Through  them  it  reaches  and  sub- 
dues the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  as  the  harp 
of  the  minstrel  in  the  old  story  reached  his 
imprisoned  master  and  made  him  know  that  he 
was  found  and  saved.  When  they  do  take  hold 
of  a  man  and  draw  him  out  into  a  real  obedi- 


RHAUTY  IN    I  HE   CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 


ence,  they  find  true  and  full  expression  in  the 
fervour  and  beauty  of  his  life.  But  there  are 
people  whose  religion  seems  to  begin  and  end  in 
feeling.  They  are  moved  upon  from  without, 
and  mistake  the  stir  of  their  emotions  for  the 
whole  of  religion.  They  may  have  a  very  poor 
reputation  for  rectitude  in  the  street,  but  they 
are  satisfied  to  feel  devotional  in  church  or  in 
the  prayer-meeting.  The  effect  produced  upon 
them  by  music  or  im.pressive  ritual  is  supposed 
by  some  of  this  class  to  be  true  devotion,  though 
it  yields  nothing  of  change  or  reformation  in  the 
life.  Balaam  felt  religious,  doubtless,  when  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  came  upon  him,  and  he  cried  : 
"  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let 
my  last  end  be  like  his!"  But  Balaam  was  a 
reprobate.  Feelings  which  do  not  take  hold  of 
the  conscience,  and  through  it  rule  the  will,  are 
the  merest  flitting  shadows  of  Christianity.  A 
man  may  have  them,  and  Christ  be  outside  of 
him  all  the  time.  Not  until  the  substance  fol- 
lows the  shadow  into  the  house,  and  feeling  is 
transmuted  into  principle,  and  doing  God's  will 
marks  the  man  in  all  his  relations,  is  his  religion 
real.     The  vv^orth,  therefore,  of  our  feelings  is 


2LJ2 


REALITY  IN    THE   CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 


proved  by  the  obedience  which  proceeds  from 
them. 

In  striking  contrast  with  this  emotional  form 
of  religion,  we  are  forewarned  by  our  Lord  Him- 
self that  there  may  be  a  formalism  even  of  good 
works.  We  may,  that  is,  do  works  good  and 
beneficial  in  themselves,  and  think  we  are 
Christians  because  we  do  them,  and  yet  there 
may  be  no  real  Christianity  in  them.  They  may 
not  be  done  to  God  at  all.  They  may  be  done 
in  actual  disobedience,  done  with  the  rewards 
of  iniquity,  done  to  cover  up  or  condone  in- 
iquitous practices,  done  to  win  reputation  or 
praise,  done  to  promote  some  business  interest, 
done  in  self- righteousness  as  a  substitute  for  that 
real  religion  of  the  heart  which  "  is  first  pure, 
then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full 
of  mercy  and  of  good  fruits."  This  is  the  point 
which  our  Lord,  in  the  words  following  our  text, 
so  solemnly  emphasises:  "  Many  will  say  to  me 
in  that  day.  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied 
in  Thy  name,  and  in  Thy  name  cast  out  devils, 
and  in  Thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ? 
And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew 
you." 


lUiALlTY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  l.ll-li.         293 

My  brethren,  I  beseech  you  to  be  Christians, 
not  in  word  only,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth.  The 
reality  of  Christianity  is  the  obedience  of  faith ; 
faith  which,  while  it  calls  Christ  "  Lord  "  in  the 
public  profession,  really  takes  Him  to  be  the 
Lord  of  the  whole  man.  We  do  not  call  you  to 
the  hard  drudgery  of  a  slavish  obedience  to  law, 
but  to  the  free  service  of  sons  of  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  Father's  will  that  you 
should  submit  yourselves  wholly  to  the  propi- 
tiating, sympathising,  sufficient,  and  grace-giv- 
ing Saviour.  Believe  me,  you  cannot  know  the 
joy  of  Christian  living,  or  experience  the  growth 
which  comes  by  faith,  or  be  strong  in  the  per- 
sonal experience  of  the  power  and  love  of  Christ, 
until  you  put  the  rudder  of  your  being  absolutely 
in  His  hands,  and  submit  to  be  ruled,  in  your 
thoughts,  your  words,  your  family,  your  busi- 
ness, and  your  pleasures,  only  by  His  will.  You 
may  say  that  my  standard  is  too  high.  I  an- 
swer that  it  is  not  my  standard ;  it  is  Christ's 
standard,  and  the  measure  of  reality  in  the 
Christian  life.  You  may  say  that  the  consecra- 
tion which  it  requires  is  not  compatible  with  the 
business   of    life.     I   answer  that  you   do    not 


294 


REALITY  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 


understand  the  nature  of  Christianity  as  the 
sanctifying  spirit  of  a  Hfe,  if  you  think  so.  It 
is  compatible  with  everything  in  business  or 
amusement  which  is  just,  true,  pure,  lovely,  and 
of  good  report.  If  there  is  anything  in  your 
heart  or  in  your  daily  life — any  secret  indul- 
gence, any  habit  or  practice,  any  neglect  of  duty 
or  trifling  with  truth — which  you  know  is  not 
consistent  with  it,  you  may  be  sure  that  it  is 
something  evil.  It  calls  for  sacrifice.  You 
must  be  wilHng  to  deny  yourself,  and  cut  it  off, 
and  cast  it  from  you. 

Oh,  to  make  our  Christianity  real  we  need 
this  more  sturdy  faith.  Not  the  mere  sentimen- 
talism  which  expends  itself  in  sighs  and  songs 
and  raptures,  nor  the  cold,  dead  orthodoxy 
which  can  only  be  galvanised  into  formal  action  ; 
but  a  faith  which  has  will  in  it,  which  goes  out 
into  the  world  with  a  loyal  purpose,  which  dares 
to  do  the  right  and  live  for  God,  and  keep  under 
the  body  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  and  let 
the  "  things  which  are  seen  and  temporal "  go, 
for  the  sake  of  the  "  things  unseen  and  eternal," 
and  to  be  manly  and  strong  and  brave  in  devo- 
tion to  the  person  and  truth  and  righteousness 


RE.4UTY  IN   THE  CflRISlUN  LIFE. 


^95 


of  Jesus  Christ — a  faith  which  can  say,  in  the 
strong  words  of  Faber : 

"  I  worship  thee,  sweet  will  of  God, 
And  all  thy  ways  adore, 
And  every  day  I  live,  I  seem 
To  love  thee  more  and  more. 

"  Thou  wert  the  end,  the  blessed  rule, 
Of  Jesu's  toils  and  tears; 
Thou  wert  the  passion  of  His  heart 
Those  three  and  thirty  years. 

"And  He  hath  breathed  into  my  soul 
A  special  love  of  thee  — 
A  love  to  lose  my  will  in  His, 
And  by  that  loss  be  free. 

"  111  that  He  blesses  is  our  good. 
And  unblest  good  is  ill ; 
And  all  is  right  that  seems  most  wrong, 
If  it  be  His  sweet  will." 


XVI. 


iHortalit^  ^tj^aUotoeD  up  of  Hife 
an  cBajster  pennon. 


XVI. 

MORTALITY   SWALLOWED    UP 

OF   LIFE:   AN   EASTER 

SERMON. 

We  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  ^  groan  ^  being  burdened  : 
not  for  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  but  clothed  up^Uy-- 
that  mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life. — 
2  Cor.  v.  4. 

^T^HE  word  translated  "  tabernacle"  here  was 
1  in  St.  Paul's  understanding  a  "  tent-dwell- 
ing," and  so  it  is  better  understood  by  us.  He 
uses  it  as  a  figure  for  these  bodies  in  which  wc 
consciously  and  so  mysteriously  live.  Whether 
we  ourselves,  who  are  conscious  of  being  in  a 
body,  and  yet  are  capable  of  thinking  of  our 
bodies  as  if  apart  from  them,  are  so  bound  up 
with  them  that  we  can  have  no  conscious  exis- 
tence apart  from  them,  is  one  of  the  questions 
which  science  in  its  best  thinkers  has  never  been 
less  disposed  to  determine  dogmatically  than 
299 


300 


MORTALITY  SIVALLOIVED  UP  OF  LIFE. 


now.  I  am  quite  safe  in  saying  that  naturalists 
are  no  longer  prepared  to  assert  that  there  is 
no  soul  because  they  cannot  "  find  it  with  the 
knife  and  weigh  it  in  the  balance."  Year  by 
year  they  have  learned  to  distrust  their  right 
to  pass  a  final  judgment  in  this  matter.  They 
have  come  to  perceive  more  clearly  the  truth 
that  "  they  really  abide  in  a  universe,"  and  that 
"  the  part  which  is  really  revealed  to  them  is  to 
the  sum  of  the  facts  only  as  one  to  infinity." 
Gradually  it  has  been  forced  upon  them  that 
"  they  too  have  to  assume  the  intangible,  if 
they  would  take  any  firm  steps  in  explaining 
the  series  of  facts  with  which  they  have  to  deal." 
The  fact  which  St.  Paul  states  is  obvious 
enough.  We  who  are  in  this  tabernacle,  or 
body,  "do  groan,  being  burdened."  We  are 
conscious  of  limitations — limitations  which  be- 
come the  more  burdensome  as  we  rise  to  a  sense 
of  our  capabilities.  Our  spirits  look  out  upon 
the  world,  and  upon  one  another,  through  the 
purely  physical  medium  of  eyes,  which  we  know 
limit  our  vision.  We  call  for  the  aid  of  tele- 
scope and  miscroscope  to  help  our  perceptions. 
Our  spirits  strain  their  powers  to  see  further  and 


MORTALITY  SlVyiLLOlVED  UP  OF  LIFE.        301 


perceive  more  than  the  bodily  vision  will  per- 
mit. I  look  into  your  faces  here  to-day,  and 
strive  to  convey  my  thoughts  to  your  minds ; 
but  it  is  a  clumsy  process,  at  best.  Your  spirits 
are  shut  up  in  those  bodies  which  alone  I  see. 
I  telephone  to  you  through  the  ear,  and  you 
receive  impressions  by  sounds  which  we  call 
speech.  What,  indeed,  are  all  our  modern  in- 
ventions but  devices  to  overcome  the  restrictions, 
the  hindrances,  the  delays,  which  the  body  puts 
upon  our  spirits  ?  We  want  to  bring  our  bodies 
up  to  the  lightning  pace  of  our  thoughts  and 
the  schemes  which  our  thoughts  originate,  and 
so  harness  steam  and  electricity,  and  make  the 
Hghtning- flash  our  messenger.  Why  is  it,  as 
the  apostle  so  suggestively  expresses  it,  that  the 
"  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
together  until  now,  .  .  .  waiting  for  the  adop- 
tion, to  wit,  the  redemption  of  the  body  "?  Is 
it  not  because  the  groaning  and  travailing  to- 
gether have  their  origin  in  the  limitations  of  the 
flesh  or  body?  Are  they  not  due  to  the  fact 
that  we  are,  in  our  present  state  of  being,  sub- 
ject to  hunger,  thirst,  fatigue,  disease,  pain,  and 
death  ?     All  the  problems  which  spring  from  the 


302 


MORTALITY  SIV ALLOWED  UP  OF  LIFE. 


inevitable  struggle  of  populations  for  existence 
are  due  to  the  fact  that  we  are  in  the  flesh,  and 
must  toil  to  feed  and  drink  and  be  clothed.  We 
"  groan,  being  burdened,"  because  we  are  in  the 
flesh  and  in  time.  We  dream  of  heaven ;  we 
aspire  to  something  higher  and  better  and  freer ; 
and  yet  we  are  under  the  dominion  of  the  body. 
Multitudes  are  enslaved  to  the  power  of  an 
earthly  habit.  Fleshly  appetites  and  passions 
control  them.  The  best  of  us  have  to  confess 
that  "  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and 
the  Spirit  against  the  flesh :  ...  so  that  wc 
cannot  do  the  things  that  wc  would." 

Now,  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  fact?  It 
is  variously  interpreted.  Some  say  our  life  is 
within  the  limitations  of  our  bodies.  We  know 
nothing  certainly  outside  of  them.  There  is 
nothing  better  for  us  than  to  get  all  the  good 
we  may  out  of  our  physical  being.  "  Let  us 
eat,  drink,  and  be  merry  to-day:  for  to-morrow 
we  die."  This  reasoning  is  as  if  the  embryo 
within  the  seed-shell  should  say,  "  My  life  is 
within  these  narrow  walls ;  I  will  sink  into  my- 
self, and  aspire  to  nothing  beyond  "  ;  and  so  the 
plant  in  embryo  would  die  and  the  possibilities 


MORTALITY  Sll'ALLOlVED  UP  OF  LIFE.        303 


of  a  larger  life  outside  of  the  seed-coating  be 
for  ever  lost.  Others  say  our  Hfe  is  in  the  spirit. 
The  flesh  is  at  war  with  the  spirit.  To  be  rid  of 
our  bodies  is  the  ultimate  good.  Meanwhile  the 
denial  and  mortification  of  the  flesh  is  the  chief 
duty  of  man.  This  is  asceticism.  We  know  to 
what  a  terrible  extreme  it  has  been  pushed  in 
the  history  of  the  Church,  separating  Christian- 
ity from  the  ordinary  practical  life,  and  scarcely 
stopping  short  of  suicide  in  its  self-abnegations 
and  tortures  and  courting  of  martyrdom.  This 
is  as  if  the  embryo  should  reject  the  nourishment 
and  protection  Vv'hich  the  seed-shell  provides,  and 
seek  to  escape  prematurely  into  the  light  and  air. 
The  truth,  as  usual,  Hes  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes. The  seed-shell  encloses  and  nourishes 
the  plant  life  in  embryo  until  it  is  ripe  to  break 
through  into  the  upper  world.  "  Not  that  we 
would  be  unclothed,"  writes  Paul,  "  but  clothed 
upon."  Life  in  the  body  is  but  one  stage  of  a 
whole  process  of  development. 


"  Let  us  not  always  say, 
•  Spite  of  this  flesh  to-day, 
I  strove,  made  head,  gained  ground,  upon  the 
whole.' 


304 


MORTALITY  SiyALLOH'ED  UP  OF  LIFE. 


As  the  bird  wings  and  sings, 

Let  us  cry,  '  All  good  things 

Are  ours,  nor  soul  helps  flesh  more  now 

Than  flesh  helps  soul.'" 

The  real  meaning  of  the  fact  that  we  who  are 
in  this  tent-dweUing  "  do  groan,  being  bur- 
dened," is  simply  this  —  incompleteness.  There 
is  a  larger  life  to  come,  for  which  we  are,  or  may 
be,  educated  through  the  discipline  of  the  present 
and  the  flesh.  The  consciousness  which  every 
thoughtful  man  has  of  his  limitations  is  itself  a 
prophecy  of  something  higher  in  reserve  for  him. 
Who  that  thinks  is  not  conscious  of  aspirations 
tov.-ards  a  state  of  being  in  which  thought  might 
flash  to  thought  without  the  imperfect  medium 
of  speech,  or  bodies,  spiritualised,  move  through 
space  free  of  the  limitations,  liabilities,  and  needs 
of  this  mortal?  The  aspiration  is  the  swelling 
of  the  germ  which  in  due  time  is  to  burst  from 
its  environment  and  be  that  which  it  aspires  to 
be.  When  we  see  a  man  of  genius,  abounding 
in  the  divinest  sort  of  life,  overflowing  the  limita- 
tions of  his  physical  environment,  and  influen- 
cing humanity  by  the  spirit  which  is  in  him,  sud- 
denly die,  can  we  rationally  suppose  that  death 


MORTALITY  SlVALLOiyED  UP  OF  UFH.        305 


ends  all?  To  believe  that  such  a  life  is  buried, 
and  all  its  spiritual  force  for  ever  annihilated, — 
that  it  has  gone  out  like  a  candle  extinguished 
by  the  passing  breeze, —  does  violence  to  my 
understanding,  and  is  out  of  harmony  with  the 
observed  order  of  phenomena  in  nature. 

The  only  satisfactory  interpretation  of  such 
facts  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  of  our  Lord's 
resurrection.  "  He  is  not  here  ;  for  He  is  risen, 
as  He  said."  T^at^perfect,  divine  lifefound  its 
completeness  and  brought  life  and  immortality 
to  light  for  us  through  the  grave  and  gate  of 
death.  That  He  should  appear  on  the  other 
side  of  the  grave  in  a  glorified  form,  was  the 
natural  order,  the  necessary  completion,  of  such 
a  life  as  He  had  lived  among  men.  It  was  not 
possible  that  He  should  be  holden  by  death. 
The  solution  of  the  oppressive  problem  of  our 
incompleteness  is  found  in  the  words  which  we 
read  over  our  dead — words  which  never  could 
have  been  written  if  Christ  had  not  risen  from 
the  dead  and  become  the  first-fruits  of  them 
that  slept:  "This  mortal  must  put  on  immor- 
tality, and  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incor- 
ruption." 


3o6        MORTALITY  ShVALLOlVED  UP  OF  LIFE. 

But  let  us  keep  close  to  the  apostle's  thought 
in  our  text,  which  carries  with  it  the  whole  idea 
of  immortaUty,  about  which  there  is  so  much 
discussion.  "  Mortality  is  to  be  swallowed  up 
of  life."  Life  is  to  be  realised  in  and  through 
our  present  mortal  state.  The  body  is  the 
school-room  of  the  child  immortal.  Here, 
through  picture-forms  and  the  stern  discipline 
of  such  preceptors  as  toil  and  pain,  he  may,  if 
he  will,  attain  "  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ."  Our  Lord,  in  all  His 
teaching,  says  little  about  immortality  as  a 
future  inheritance,  but  He  does  bring  it  close  to 
us  as  an  endless  life  which  may  begin  here  and 
now.  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life :  and  he  that  believeth  not  the 
Son  shall  not  see  life."  It  was  quite  natural, 
quite  as  we  habitually  think,  that  Martha's  mind 
should  travel  forward  to  a  possible  far- oft  future 
when  our  Lord  assured  her  that  her  dead  brother 
Lazarus  should  rise  again.  "  I  know  that  he 
shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last 
day."  Now,  note  our  Lord's  reply.  He  brings 
her  mind  back  to  the  present.  "  I  am  the  res- 
urrection, and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  me. 


MORTALITY  SiyAI.LOH'ED  UP  OF  LIFT.        ^o] 


though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live:  and 
whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never 
die."  It  is  not  of  an  immortality  to  be  gained 
hereafter,  as  a  reward  for  good  works  now,  that 
He  speaks,  but  of  resurrection  and  life  as  pres- 
ent experiences,  making  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him  superior  to  death  now  and  for  ever.  I  beg 
you,  my  fellow-mortals,  to  think  of  this.  Surely 
no  interest  can  be  more  vital  to  every  one  of  us 
than  that  which  would  make  the  life  of  the  pres- 
ent larger,  fuller,  and  superior  to  pain  and  sin 
and  death.  It  is  an  entire  misconception  of 
Christianity  to  suppose  that  tiie  blessed  immor- 
tality which  it  promises  is  something  which  we 
may  realise  by  and  by,  if  we  believe,  and  obey, 
and  deny  ourselves  now.  This  idea  has  been  an 
occasion  of  stumbling  to  many  minds,  and  of 
much  selfishness  and  even  wrong-doing  among 
members  of  the  Church.  "  I  am  come  that  they 
might  have  life,"  said  our  Lord,  "  and  that  they 
might  have  it  more  abundantly."  It  is  no^ 
therefore,  of  a  heaven  to  be  won  that  we  are  to 
be  thinking,  but  of  a  life  to  be  lived  now.  Our 
future  heaven  will  be  the  bloom  and  ripeness  of 
the  crerm  which  is  enclosed  within  this  mortal 


3oS        MORTALITY  SiyAl.LOlVED  UP  OF  LIFE. 

here.  Oh,  herein  is  the  power  of  a  Christian 
hfe,  rightly  understood — that  which  saves  it 
from  selfishness,  that  which  puts  into  it  a  nobler 
motive  than  merely  to  secure  salvation  from 
eternal  torment,  or  to  gain  everlasting  happi- 
ness. It  is  life  lived  up  to  the  fulness  of  the 
sonship  towards  God,  which  Christ  has  revealed 
and  made  possible  for  us.  It,  is  life  which 
breathes  and  moves  by  the  inspiration  of  all  that 
is  best  and  purest  in  itself,  and  m  God's  world 
outside  of  itself.  It  is  life  lived  sympathetically 
with  all  other  lives,  as  Christ  lived.  It  is  life 
lived,  not  to  gain  heaven,  but  to  make  heaven 
for  all,  and  so  to  realise  the  truest  heaven,  now 
and  hereafter,  for  itself.  Think  how  far  above 
the  low  level  of  our  average  living  such  Hfe,  in 
the  mere  suggestion  of  it,  is.  That  is  a  very 
low  kind  of  life,  we  are  all  r-eady  to  admit, 
which  is  concerned  only  to  eat,  drink,  and  be 
clothed.  I  know  that  these  are  necessities, 
urgent  necessities,  with  the  multitude;  but  the 
anxious  thought  for  them,  which  grinds  down 
the  souls  of  weary  men  and  women,  is  just  the 
burden  which  Christ  came  to  lift  by  putting 
new  hopes  and  motives  and  principles  into  us, 


MORTALITY  SiyALLOlVED  UP  OF  IJI-E. 


309 


inspiring  us  to  live  S3'mpathetically,  and  helping 
us  both  to  bear  patiently  and  to  act  efficiently. 
It  is  not  among  those  who  have  to  toil  for  daily 
bread  that  we  find  the  most  unworthy  living. 
There  are  men  and  women  among  the  rich  and 
educated  who  live  habitually  down  under  the 
dominion  of  the  body  and  its  desires — mere 
frivolous  or  so-called  society  people,  whose 
whole  being  seems  to  be  absorbed  in  thought  for 
dress  and  pleasure  and  the  happiness  of  the 
moment.  In  the  same  plane  is  all  life  which  is 
selfish,  seeking  greedily  and  exclusively  money, 
power,  place,  or  fame.  The  man  who  thinks, 
who  lives  in  the  intellectual  part  of  his  being, 
who  keeps  himself  open  to  truth  for  truth's  sake, 
who  cares  more  to  know  than  to  feed,  who 
dominates  the  body,  begins  to  realise  the  larger 
capabiHties  of  his  being.  But  even  life  in  the  in- 
tellect, exclusive  of  every  influence  which  might 
come  from  the  unseen,  imprisoned  within  the 
hard  walls  of  that  which  may  be  actually  known, 
is  like  a  plant  shut  up  in  a  dark,  close  dungeon. 
Its  roots  may  derive  nourishment  from  the  soil, 
but  it  must  have  light  and  air,  or  wither  to 
death. 


310        MORTALITY  SIVALLOU'ED  UP  OF  LIFE. 

Faith  is  the  opening  of  our  spirits  to  the  light 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  shining 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  To  live  the  Chris- 
tian life. is  to  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the 
light.  I  mean  by  that,  thinking  and  being  and 
doing  the  best  that  is  made  possible  for  us, 
under  all  the  lights  which  shine  round  us  from 
the  person  and  word  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is 
made  possible  for  us  to  think  the  thoughts  of  an 
immortal  being,  alive  unto  God,  and  for  whom 
death  is  only  an  incident,  a  dropping  of  the 
seed-shell  that  the  new  life  may  spring.  It  is 
made  possible  for  us  to  overcome  the  tyranny 
of  the  flesh  by  walking  in  the  Spirit,  by  keeping 
ourselves  preoccupied  with  high  and  pure 
thoughts,  studies,  interests,  and  works.  It  is 
made  possible  for  us  to  be  in  character  the 
King's  sons  and  the  King's  daughters,  and  to 
do  divine  work  by  carrying  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
into  society,  wherever  we  may  touch  it.  I  know 
that  the  world  through  which  we  must  move  is 
not  friendly  to  a  spiritual  habit ;  but  if  v/e  con- 
trol ourselves  from  within,  by  making  it  a  prin- 
ciple to  "  bring  every  thought  into  captivity  to 
the  obedience  of  Christ,"  we  shall  be  always 


MORTALITY  SIVALLOH/HD  UP  OF  LIFE.        311 

clearing  ourselves  of  the  scum  which  gathers  at 
the  circumference  of  our  being,  just  as  a  pool  of 
living  water  bubbling  from  a  springs  clears  itself. 
We  have  the  Church  and  its  teachers  and  sac- 
raments to  help.  We  have  Christ's  own  Word 
to  study  and  enjoy,  and  a  whole  world  of  liter- 
ature, opening  to  us  opportunities  for  commu- 
nion with  the  best  minds  of  all  ages.  We  have 
work  to  do  for  Christ  in  our  every-day  contact 
with  the  world.  There  is  no  man  or  woman, 
however  obscure  or  hard-worked,  who  may  not 
put  himself  or  herself  under  conditions  which 
shall  develop  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul — the 
immortal  life.  But  we  must  put  ourselves  under 
the  conditions  which  are  essential  to  life.  I  do 
not  pretend  to  understand  the  process  by  which 
life  enters  and  new  creates  the  soul  which  makes 
way  for  it.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst 
not  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it  goeth : 
so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  I 
_dp  know,  however,  this :  that  as  the  man  who 
had  the  withered  hand  was  told  to  stretch  it 
fortli,  and  with  the  eftort  came  the  strength  and 
the  healing,  so  by  the  putting  forth  of  our  feeble- 


312        MORTALITY  SIVALLOIVED  UP  OF  LIFE. 

ness,  in  simple  dependence  on  His  power,  we 
may  realise  life.  We  are  to  begin  by  simply 
putting  ourselves,  as  He  commands,  into  rela- 
tion with  His  Church,  confessing  Him  before 
men,  "continuing,"  as  the  early  Christians  did, 
"  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  teaching  and  fellow- 
ship, and  in  breaking  of  bread  and  in  prayers." 
If  we  continue  steadfastly  in  these  things,  we 
shall  be  more  than  mere  formal  members  of  the 
Church.  We  shall  absorb  their  deeper  meaning. 
We  shall  realise  that  the  end  of  the  teaching  is 
to  live  out  of  ourselves,  to  help  and  bless  the 
world  wherever  we  may  touch  it;  and  we  shall 
realise  that  as  we  live  for  Him,  and  study  to 
know  Him,  and  rejoice  in  Him,  He  will  live  in 
us.  Oh,  I  have  seen  in  the  sick-room  patient 
sufferers,  wasting  away,  in  whom  mortality  was 
visibly  being  swallowed  up  of  life.  I  have  seen 
the  life  of  the  Eternal  shining  through  the  walls 
of  the  tent-dwelling.  I  have  seen  the  aged, 
bearing  the  infirmities  of  fourscore  years,  in 
whom  an  eternal  youth  was  springing,  and  for 
whom  death  meant  a  mounting  up  with  wings, 
as  eagles.  As  the  outward  man  decayed  the 
inward  man  was  renewed  day  by  day.     I  have 


MORTALITY  SIV ALLOWED  UP  OF  LIFE.        313 

seen  hard-working  people  struggle  through  life, 
bearing  poverty,  loss,  and  sorrow  upon  sorrow, 
and  yet  gain  character,  through-all,  which  shone 
out  in  their  faces  and  put  light  in  their  eyes — 
the  character  which  is  Christlikeness,  which 
makes  us  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light.  Death,  when  it  comes,  is  for  such 
living  members  of  the  Church  only  the  final 
triumph — "  Mortality  swallowed  up  of  life." 


XVII. 

^eefting  fim  tl)z  IftingDmu  of  (0otJ. 


XVII. 

SEEKING  FIRST   THE  KINGDOM 
OF   GOD. 

But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  His  right- 
eousness; and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
yon. — St.  Matt.  vi.  t^t^ 

IF  the  consideration  of  what  \ve  shall  eat,  and 
what  we  shall  drink,  and  \\herewithal  we 
shall  be  clothed  could  be  taken  out  of  our  lives, 
how  very  empty  and  barren  many  lives  would 
be!  They  would  have  no  aims,  interests,  or 
occupations  left.  What  would  some  women  do 
if  they  had  not  dress  to  contrive  and  talk  about? 
Take  that  one  topic  out  of  conversation,  and  who 
can  number  the  tongues  that  would  be  mute, 
or  the  minds  which,  through  lack  of  material, 
would  have  to  stop  working?  What  would  a 
large  majority  of  our  men  do,  if  they  had  not 
money  to  think  and  plan  about,  or  the  gratifica- 
tion of  appetite,  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  and 
317 


3i8      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

other  pleasures  to  provide  for?  Multitudes 
would  be  found  mentally,  morally,  and  spirit- 
ually bankrupt,  their  occupation  gone,  no  re- 
sources in  themselves,  all  the  blessed  possibili- 
ties of  their  diviner  nature  squandered  in  the 
service  of  the  flesh  and  the  world. 

Now,  it  is  this  anxious,  absorbing  concern  for 
the  things  seen  which  our  Lord  condemns.  The 
central  thought  of  the  beautiful  discourse  from 
which  we  have  selected  the  Vv'ords  just  read  is 
that  we  should  "take  no  anxious  thought  for 
our  life,  what  we  shall  eat,  or  what  we  shall 
drink ;  nor  yet  for  the  body,  what  we  shall  put 
on."  He  condemns  such  anxiety  because  it 
separates  the  heart  from  God,  its  lawful  sov- 
ereign. "  No  man,"  He  says,  "  can  serve  two 
masters."  Their  claims  will  clash,  and  either 
he  will  "  hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other,"  or 
else  he  will  "  hold  to  the  one,  and  despise  the 
other."  He  condemns  it  because  it  is  unreason- 
able. The  life  is  more  than  meat,  and  the  body 
than  raiment.  He  who  gave  the  higher  part 
can  certainly  be  trusted  to  care  for  the  lower; 
He  knows  that  we  have  need  of  these  things. 
He  condemns  it  because  it  is  unworthy  of  our 


SEEKING  EIRSI    THE  KINGDOM  01-  GOD.       ^uj 


real  dignity.  "  If  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of 
the  field,  which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast 
into  the  oven,  shall  He  not  much  more  clothe 
you?  " — you  who  are  capable  of  knowing  Him, 
you  who  have  nobler  ends  set  before  you  than 
to  bedeck  and  pamper  the  flesh,  you  who  have 
immortal  spirits,  made  to  ripen  in  all  holiness 
and  wear  the  fadeless  bloom  of  a  life  beyond  the 
grave !  He  does  not  mean  that  we  are  to  learn 
from  the  lilies  and  the  birds  to  do  nothing  for 
ourselves.  They  fulfil  the  proper  ends  of  their 
being;  they  realise  the  divine  fulness  by  work- 
ing out  to  ripeness  the  forces  which  are  in  them. 
We  are  to  live  up  to  the  measure  of  the  life 
which  is  in  us.  "  But  I  say  unto  you  "  (this  is  the 
conclusion  drawn  from  the  preceding  thoughts), 
"  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  His 
righteousness ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you." 

We  have  presented  to  us  here  an  object,  a 
duty,  and  a  promise. 

I.  The  object  is  described  as  God's  kingdom  and 
righteousness.  These  are  really  one^.  Right- 
eousness is  the  wedding-garment  which  admits 
to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  King's  Son.     It 


320      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

is  that  which  God  provides,  through  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  righteousness  of 
God  by  faith,  and  not  self-righteousness  or  mere 
outward  morality.  The  key-note  of  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount  is  struck  in  the  words, 
"  Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the 
righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye 
shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  The  goodness  which  our  Lord  re- 
quires is  to  be  developed,  Uke  the  lily's  beauty, 
from  v/ithin.  It  is  to  be  the  natural  fruit  of  a 
good  tree,  because,  as  He  says,  "  a  good  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a  cor- 
rupt tree  bring  forth  good  fruit."  It  is  to 
stand  like  a  house  which  is  built  securely  on  a 
rock,  and  not  like  that  equally  or  perhaps  more 
showy  building  which  fell,  when  the  spring 
floods  came,  because  it  was  planted  on  the 
unstable  sand. 

Our  Lord,  in  this  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  in 
all  His  teaching,  aimed  to  break  up  the  surface 
morality  which  had  congealed  over  bad  hearts, 
and  make  the  people  know  their  need  of  an 
internal  purity.  The  proud  were  maddened  by 
His  doctrine,  because  the  faces  which  they  saw 


SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD.      321 

reflected  in  it  were  the  faces  of  hypocrites. 
The  honest  hearers  did  not  forget  what  manner 
of  men  they  were,  but  being  convicted  of  sin 
they  came  in  penitence  to  His  feet  for  mercy 
and  healing.  He  alone  can  create  in  us  the 
purity  which  He  commands  us  to  seek.  We 
must  seek  it  in  Him.  He  is  made  unto  us,  by 
His  dying  in  our  stead,  "  wisdom,  and  right- 
eousness, and  sanctlfication,  and  redemption." 
"  This  is  the  name,"  said  the  prophet,  "  by  which 
He  shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  Righteous- 
ness." We  can  create  for  ourselves  a  certain 
kind  of  goodness  which  will  pass  current  among 
men.  But  what  of  the  secret  deeds  which  we 
would  blush  to  have  even  the  world  know? 
What  of  the  low  desires  which  v/e  would 
indulge,  if  we  dared?  What  of  the  hateful 
thoughts  and  feelings  which  only  the  restraints 
of  outward  decency  and  reputation  keep  within 
bounds  ?  The  condemnation  which  was  written 
against  men  in  the  beginning  specified  no  evil 
deeds.  The  indictment  reads,  "  Every  imagi- 
nation of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil 
continually."  No  man  can  honestly  carry  the 
lamp  of  truth  down  into  the  secret  chambers  of 


32  2      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

his  soul  and  fail  to  perceive  that  his  nature  is 
unholy.  He  needs  to  be  renewed  in  the  spirit 
of  his  mind,  I  must  not  only  avoid  evil,  I 
must  abhor  it.  I  must  have  a  spirit  in  me  which 
will  recoil  from  the  very  thought  or  suggestion 
of  sin.  I  must  be  in  hearty  sympathy  with 
that  which  is  good  and  pure  and  noble  and  true, 
and  at  war  in  all  my  tastes  and  dispositions 
with  that  v/hich  is  earthly,  sensual,  devilish.  I 
must  have  the  mind  to  think,  as  well  as  to  do 
"  always  those  things  which  are  right."  This 
is  the  dress  which  admits  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Society  has  its  superficial  standards,  but 
this  is  God's  righteousness. 

It  is  born  in  us  by  the  Ploly  Ghost,  in  and 
through  whom  Christ  works  upon  the  human 
heart.  We  get  a  clear  conscience  before  God 
by  confessing  our  sins  and  accepting  the  blood- 
bought  pardon  which  is  sealed  to  us  by  the 
perfect  obedience,  even  unto  death,  of  Jesus 
Christ.  We  have  in  Him  reconciliation,  son- 
ship,  and  the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we 
cry,  "Abba,  Father."  By  living  in  constant 
communion  with  Him,  and  moving  in  the  line 
of  His  appointments,  we  may  ripen  in  char- 


SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


3^3 


acter.  and  reflect  more  and  more  His  right- 
eousness. 

Here,  then,  is  the  end  set  before  us,  and  the 
path  which  leads  to  it.  It  is  the  one  thing 
needful,  because  it  alone  can  survive  to  be  our 
eternal  treasure  when  the  world  has  passed 
away.  It  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  reared  up  by- 
silent,  unseen  powers  within  you.  It  is  in  one 
word,  character;  and  that,  like  some  draped 
and  curtained  statue  which  the  skilful  artist  has 
secretly  chiselled  into  graceful,  speaking  pro- 
portions, shall  stand  disclosed  to  view  in  all  its 
beauty,  a  monument  of  Christ's  power  for  ever, 
when  the  drapery  of  the  flesh  has  fallen  off  and 
the  fashion  of  this  world  passed  away. 

II.  Our  Lord  urges  upon  us  a  certain  well- 
defined  dii/j' :  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  His  righteousness."  He  does  not 
mean  first  in  the  order  of  time  merely,  as  if, 
when  these  matters  have  been  attended  to,  we 
may  surrender  ourselves  to  other  interests. 
Such  a  rendering  of  the  passage  would  be  very 
convenient  for  persons  who,  having  once  made 
a  profession  of  religion,  practically  assume  that 
they  have  no  further  obligations.    Religion  is  to 


324 


SEEKING  EIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OE  GOD. 


them  a  sort  of  insurance  policy,  which,  having 
once  been  formally  adopted,  secures  them,  they 
imagine,  against  eternal  fires  without  further 
care  on  their  parti  They  look  after  it  a  little 
on  Sunday,  and  perhaps  say  a  hasty  prayer  at 
the  beginning  of  each  day ;  but  Christ  does  not 
go  with  them  into  the  common  daily  routine. 
Righteousness  is  a  vital,  all-pervading  principle. 
It  is  only  accomplished  in  us  when  we  stand 
complete  amid  the  glories  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom. There  is  no  time  when  it  may  be  super- 
seded by  earthly  interests. 

We  are  not,  however,  to  suppose,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  our  Lord  means  "  first  "  in  the 
sense  of  literally  putting  aside  all  inferior  con- 
cerns. He  neither  requires  a  separatist,  ascetic 
life,  nor  will  He  tolerate  a  divided  service. 
We  are  not  obliged  to  become  missionaries, 
preachers,  or  hermits  in  order  to  obey  his 
charge.  It  does  not  justify  any  man  or  woman 
in  neglecting  to  provide  for  his  or  her  house- 
hold, nor  excuse  slothfulness  in  business,  nor  a 
coarse  disregard  of  the  customs  and  proprieties 
of  social  life.  It  is  quite  possible  to  couple 
"  not  slothful  in  business "   with   "  fervent   in 


SI^I^KING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  Or  GOD.      325 

Spirit,  serving  the  Lord."  It  is  quite  possible 
to  carry  a  supreme  regard  for  His  will  into  all 
the  affairs  of  the  present;  and  they  will  be 
the  more  faithfully  done  in  proportion  to  the 
intensity  of  this  principle. 

Precisely  this  our  Lord  meant.  He  meant 
that  "  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  His  righteous- 
ness," should  be  first  in  autho7'ity  among  the 
various  interests  which  crowd  into  our  lives. 
He  meant  that  they  should  be  the  sovereign 
principles  of  thought,  desire,  and  action.  Think 
how  many  other  considerations  daily  claim  our 
submission,  and  you  will  understand  how  this 
rule  works.  We  are  constantly  asking  our- 
selves, in  matters  pertaining  to  business,  family, 
and  the  social  circle,  "Will  this  or  that  scheme' 
pay  ?  Will  it  give  me  pleasure  ?  Will  it  advance 
the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  my  children  ?  Is  it 
expedient?  Can  I  afford  it?  Shall  I  get  hon- 
our byit?  What  will  people  say  ?  "  Our  Saviour 
commands  us  to  put  before  all  these,  and  deter- 
mine, before  we  dare  to  take  a  step  forward  in 
any  course  or  scheme  of  action,  the  single  ques- 
tion, "Is  it  right  ?  "  The  duty  we  owe  to  God 
is  to  be  our  first  concern  in  the  rearing  of  our 


326      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

children,  the  arrangement  of  our  homes,  the 
transaction  of  our  business,  and  the  determina- 
tion of  our  friendships  and  our  pleasures.  The 
other  questions  may  come  in  afterwards,  but 
their  relevancy  must  be  tested  by  this  supreme 
rule.  It  must  be  first,  and  all  other  interests 
subordinate.  Happy  is  the  man  who  has  such 
a  principle  set  like  a  balance-wheel  in  the  centre 
of  his  being.  There  is  beautiful  harmony  in  his 
life.  He  works  out  results  which  are  noble  and 
enduring.  Glorious  is  the  religion  which  thus 
incorporates  itself  with  our  common  activities 
and  orders  the  whole  movement  of  our  human 
nature  in  its  complex  relations. 

Our  lives  are  like  instruments  of  music. 
Their  real  powers  can  be  interpreted  only  by 
those  who  know  how  to  use  them.  They 
must  be  used  according  to  certain  fixed  meth- 
ods; othenvise  they  will  give  forth  only  harsh 
sounds,  and  jar  discordantly  with  other  lives. 
Society  ought  to  be  one  mighty  orchestra,  each 
performer  a  master  in  the  art,  and  all  combining 
to  render  in  rich  harmonies  glory  to  God.  But 
men  come  upon  the  stage  with  their  lives  in 
their  hands,  and  each  one  chooses  to  follow  his 


SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


327 


own  wild,  untutored  will.  They  are  wilfully 
ignorant  of  the  true  art  of  living.  They  do 
not  know  how  to  use  themselves.  They  play 
at  random,  without  agreement,  out  of  tune  one 
with  the  other,  perverting  the  real  purpose  of 
their  lives,  and  consequently  make  a  horrible 
din.  Christ  is  the  one  great  master  in  the  art 
of  living.  When  we  have  been  taught  of  Him, 
and  have  learned  to  seek  first  God's  kingdom 
and  righteousness,  then  the  rich  capabilities  of 
our  being  are  displayed ;  then  we  know  how  to 
live ;  then  all  our  powers,  relations,  and  actions 
are  brought  into  harmony  with  the  one  central 
idea  of  duty  to  God,  and  filled  with  one  impulse 
— the  love  of  God. 

III.  These  thoughts  bring  us  to  the  promise 
which  our  text  contains :  "  All  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you."  He  had  been  speaking, 
you  will  remember,  of  the  things  which  the 
body  needs,  such  as  food  and  raiment.  Is  it 
true  that  those  who  make  the  righteousness  of 
God  which  is  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  their 
supreme  concern  in  all  the  afifairs  of  life  have 
all  other  needful  things  added  unto  them? 
Our  Lord  docs  not  say  that  they  shall  have  a 


328      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

superfluity  of  earthly  good.  He  does  not 
promise  that  they  shall  roll  in  wealth,  live  in 
palaces,  be  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  and 
fare  sumptuously  every  day.  These  are  not 
needful  things.  He  has  in  mind  the  lily  and 
the  birds,  and  His  thought  is  that  as  they  have 
all  things  which  are  essential  to  their  develop- 
ment, so  all  things  which  are  essential  to  the 
development  of  a  perfect  manhood  shall  be 
added  unto  us. 

By  setting  righteousness  before  us  as  the 
chief  good,  we  bring  ourselves  into  the  line  of 
God's  special  providence  concerning  us.  We 
place  ourselves,  in  other  words,  where  the  origi- 
nal laws  of  our  being  may  have  free  play  and 
work  out  their  best  results.  The  body  and  the 
material  world  outside  of  us  were  made  to  serve 
our  spiritual  growth.  If  a  man  subordinates  his 
moral  nature  to  his  physical  desires,  there  is  an 
overgrowth  of  the  physical  which  is  abnormal 
and  which  degrades  him  to  a  level  with  the 
beasts.  He  has  missed  the  true  end  of  being, 
and  lost  his  soul,  however  much  he  may  have 
gained  externally.  When  the  spiritual  instincts 
are  obeyed,  all   inferior  things  discover  their 


SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


329 


proper  uses,  serve  our  best  interests,  and  fall 
into  tiieir  true  relations.  The  best  wealth  comes 
by  integrity  and  benevolence.  The  man  who 
gets  riches  by  hoarding  and  trickery  makes  his 
soul  poor  indeed ;  and  when  the  day  of  calam- 
ity comes  he  has  none  to  help.  Happiness  is 
not  found  by  those  who  seek  it:  it  follows  in 
the  path  of  virtue.  Health  is  best  preserved  by 
temperance,  and  the  secret  of  peace  is  a  quiet 
conscience.  Friendship  cannot  be  purchased 
with  money :  it  is  added  unto  him  who  shows 
himself  friendly.  Honour  and  beauty  are  not 
wrought  out  of  crowns  and  houses  and  fine 
clothes :  they  belong  to  character ;  they  are 
inherited  by  those  who  seek  to  be  and  to  do  right. 
We  naturally  gather  to  ourselves  all  that  we_ 
need  for  our  present  welfare  by  making  right- 
eousness supreme.  We  forfeit  nothing  which 
is  really  needful.  We  are  able,  in  whatsoever 
state  we  are,  to  enjoy  sweet  contentment.  We 
know  that  God  is  working  all  things  together 
for  our  good.  We  have  enough  for  each  day's 
needs.  We  use  the  powers  which  God  has 
given  us  to  the  best  advantage.  We  gather,  in 
return  for  our  toils,  the  best  honours,  the  best 


330      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  COD. 

loves,  and  the  best  joys  which  the  world  can 
give. 

I  have  said  that  all  things  W'hich  are  needful 
for  our  best  growth  are  added  unto  us.  The 
best  growth  is  that  which  develops  the  whole 
man  —  body,  mind,  and  spirit.  The  scheme  of 
Providence  takes  into  account,  therefore,  the 
different  natures,  temperaments,  and  tendencies 
of  men.  It  provides,  through  grace,  for  direct 
influences  upon  our  souls.  It  aims  to  bring 
them  under  conditions  which  will  make  them 
most  susceptible  of  those  influences.  There  is 
a  blessed  purpose,  therefore,  in  those  appoint- 
ments which  surround  some  with  affluence, 
while  others  have  only  bread  enough  for  to- 
day. There  is  meaning  in  the  sorrows  which 
roll  over  some,  wave  upon  wave,  and  the  toils 
and  conflicts  through  which  others  must  strug- 
gle. Some  plants  need  one  kind  of  earth,  and 
some  another.  Some  require  the  shade,  and 
others  must  have  the  sun.  There  are  bulbs 
which  have  to  be  shut  up  in  the  dark  until  their 
roots  have  struck  down  deep  and  they  have 
gathered  strength  to  shoot  out  from  the  top. 
Wlien  they  can  bear  the  light  we  bring  them 


SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


331 


forth,  and  you  know  how  fair  and  fragrant  are 
the  flowers  they  bear.  So  God  deals  with  us, 
in  His  abounding  love ;  so  would  He  develop 
that  which  is  best  in  us.  Few  can  bear  the 
broad  glare  of  worldly  prosperity ;  it  is  not 
friendly  to  the  development  of  the  highest 
virtues.  The  grandest  Christian  characters  have 
grown  strong  amid  obscurity  and  gloom.  Very 
dry  places  have  contributed  to  the  growth  of 
very  fruitful  lives.  It  should  content  us  to 
know  that  the  condition  in  which  God  has 
placed  us,  whether  dark  or  bright,  congenial  or 
painful,  wealthy  or  straitened,  is  the  best  for  us. 
Put  forth  all  your  energies  to  improve  it.'  Seek 
to  ripen  in  all  goodness  under  it,  and  the  issue 
will  prove  the  loving  purpose  in  it.  When  the 
many  tried  and  sorrowful  believers  whose  lives 
have  been  a  long  struggle  with  adversity,  who 
have  had  none  of  this  world's  wealth  and  lux- 
ury, though  much  of  the  inner  strength  which 
roots  itself  in  God, — when  they  stand  forth  in 
the  light  of  eternity,  rich  will  be  their  bloom, 
and  rapturously  will  they  praise  God  for  the 
beauty  born  amid  ad^'orsity,  and  nevermore  to 
fade. 


332      SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 

Oh,  that  we  might  learn  that  the  best  wealth 
and  health  and  happiness  are  to  be  attained  by- 
making  the  righteousness  which  comes  by  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  our  object  in  life,  and  entire  sub- 
mission to  the  impulses  of  His  love  our  sover- 
eign duty  always!  Never  suppose  that  you 
can  live  towards  earthly  things,  and  die  into 
heaven.  Your  soul  is  the  arrow ;  life  is  the 
bow.  The  bow  is  bent,  and  the  arrow  is  in  your 
hand.  According  to  your  aim,  so  will  be  its 
destiny.  A  wavering,  divided  purpose  shoots 
at  random,  and  loses  both  worlds.  If  you  aim 
at  this  world's  good,  you  cannot  possibly  reach 
the  glory  which  is  far  above.  The  world,  and 
the  world  only,  must  be  your  portion.  You 
may  hit  the  mark  you  aim  at,  but  the  chances 
are  that  the  fickle  air  will  turn  the  arrow  aside 
into  disappointment  and  vexation  of  spirit. 
Where  the  shaft  falls,  there  it  must  lie.  The 
bow  may  not  be  drawn  again.  Repentings  will 
be  in  vain  when  this  critical  life  has  spent  itself. 
Aim  towards  righteousness,  and  God  will  nerve 
your  arm  with  might  before  unknown,  your  life 
will  discover  its  true  purpose,  the  Holy  Spirit 
will  wing  your  soul  straight  home.     But  remem- 


SEEKING  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD.      ^^^ 

ber  that  the  righteousness  to  which  God  calls 
you  is  not  obedience  to  certain  cold,  moral  pre- 
cepts. It  is  embodied  in  our  personal  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  To  seek  righteousness  is  to  seek 
Him  —  to  let  His  love  enter  into  you  and  inspire 
you.  Righteousness  is  Christlikeness,  and  Christ- 
likeness  comes  by  letting  the  "  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ  shine  into  your  hearts." 


XVIII. 

Cleansfet)  in  (ia^oing* 


XVIII. 
CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 

And  wJisn  He  saw  tket/i,  He  said  unto  them,  Go  shotv 
yourselves  unto  the  priests,  Ajid  it  catne  to  pass, 
that,  as  they  wetit,  they  ivere  cleansed. —  St.  Luke 
xvii.  14. 

TEN  lepers  met  our  Lord  on  His  way  to 
Jerusalem.  Immediately  the  cry  sprang 
to  their  lips,  "  Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy  on 
us! "  They  were  the  victims  of  a  disease  which 
was,  as  you  know,  a  living  death.  Corruption 
seemed  to  anticipate  the  grave  and  make  them 
walking  sepulchres.  Leprosy  was  the  recog- 
nised symbol  of  sin,  among  the  Jews,  and  its 
miserable  victims  were  counted  accursed  of 
God,  and  were  exiled  from  the  society  of  their 
fellows  and  all  the  privileges  of  citizenship  and 
religion. 

These  men  were   sorely  in  need   of  mercy 
therefore,  and  they  found  it  in  Him  who  "  de- 


33S  CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 

spiseth  neither  the  sighing  of  a  contrite  heart, 
nor  the  desire  of  such  as  arc  sorrowful."  But 
His  method  of  deahng  with  them  was  peculiar. 
He  did  not  heal  by  a  touch ;  He  did  not  say, 
"  Be  ye  clean  "  ;  He  did  not  tell  them  to  go 
wash  in  some  pool.  He  simply  commanded 
them,  while  the  leprosy  was  still  upon  them,  to 
go  and  meet  the  requirements  of  the  Levitical 
law  as  if  they  were  already  cleansed.  They 
had  only  the  assurance  implied  in  His  command 
to  rest  upon,  at  first.  There  was  no  experience 
of  His  power  until  they  had  begun  to  obey. 
Now,  "  it  came  to  pass,  that,  as  they  went  [or 
*'  in  going  "],  they  were  cleansed." 

That  which  was  a  parable  of  the  death  which 
comes  by  sin,  to  the  Jews,  is  in  our  Lord's 
healing  hands  a  parable  of  the  life  wliich  comes 
by  faith.  I  am  quite  sure  that  in  all  Christ's 
miracles  of  heahng  there  was  a  spiritual  mean- 
ing, because  the  ultimate  aim  of  all  His  words 
and  works  was  spirit  and  life.  The  leper  rep- 
resents man  under  sin.  I  will  not  pursue  the 
familiar  commonplace  parallel.  There  are  just 
two  very  practical  points  which  the  incident 
illustrates : 


CLEANSED  JN  GOING.  339 

I.  The  nature  of  the  salvation  which  Christ 
brings. 

II,  The  method  by  which  we  may  reaHse  it. 
I.   "  Thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus,"  said 

the  herald  angel ;  "  for  He  shall  save  His  people 
from  their  sins."  The  salvation  which  Christ 
brings  to  man,  therefore,  is  salvation  from  siu. 
There  are  not  a  few  people  in  the  world  who 
seem  to  think  that  when  we  preach  salvation 
we  mean  salvation  from  some  possible  eternity 
of  torment  to  come  hereafter.  The  general 
scepticism  towards  the  old  conceptions  of  hell 
and  hell- fire  seems,  consequently,  to  leave  no 
force  or  meaning  in  the  gospel,  or  good  news, 
of  salvation ;  there  is  nothing  to  be  saved 
from.  But  there  t's  something"  to  be  saved  from, 
which  is  a  very  real  and  present  fact.  It 
involves  the  life  after  death,  in  its  possible  and 
everlasting  consequences,  but  it  is  an  existing 
condition, —  a  condition  as  real  as  the  leprosy 
which  preyed  upon  the  ten  who  called  out  to 
Christ  for  mercy. 

I  do  not  see  how  we  can  be  blind  to  the  fact 
that  men  and  women  are  not  what  they  are 
capable   of  being.     It   does   seem   to  me   that 


340  CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 


every  thoughtful  person  must  perceive  that, 
unless  some  higher  impulse  or  purpose  comes 
into  human  lives,  they  lose  themselves  before 
our  very  eyes  in  vice  and  darkness  and  mere 
animalism.  It  is  not  by  summing  up  the  open 
acts  of  wrong  or  crime  that  we  prove  men  the 
victims  of  a  spiritual  leprosy.  The  average 
man  or  woman  is  not  criminal  or  even  vicious. 
It  is  easy  to  gather  up  the  daily  records  of  the 
police-courts  and  argue  that  all  men  would  be 
bad  if  they  dared.  There  are  good  and  kind 
deeds  springing  up  every  day,  among  the 
thorns  and  briers  and  rankest  overgrowth  of 
unbelief  and  ignorance,  which  contradict  any 
such  sweeping  conclusion.  It  is  true,  as  we 
know  too  well,  that  vice  gets  the  mastery  over 
many,  and  causes  deterioration  and  the  death 
of  all  high  and  noble  capacities.  The  story  of 
childhood  and  youth  becoming  sensualised  and 
degenerating  into  a  low,  profane,  beastly  man- 
hood, and  perhaps  old  age,  is  too  real  to  need 
more  than  mention.  It  would  not  be  fair, 
however,  to  say  that  all  persons  who  are  not 
avowed  Christians  necessarily  degenerate  in 
this  way.     It  would  simply  not  be  true,  because 


CLEANSED  IN  GOING.  341 

we  know  that  there  are  thousands  who  ripen  in 
mind  and  develop  into  useful,  intelligent  men 
and  women,  who  make  no  profession  of  religion. 
But  the  fact  remains  that  these  very  respectable 
men  and  women  are  yet  under  the  dominion  of 
sin.     In  what,  then,  does  the  sin  consist  ? 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  does  not  specify  par- 
ticular sins  or  crimes  when  He  charges  the 
world  with  sin.  He  tells  His  disciples,  just 
before  His  death,  that  the  Comforter  shall  come, 
and  that  He  shall  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  "  Of  sin,"  He 
says,  "  because  they  believe  not  on  me."  That 
is  the  indictment.  "  In  Him  was  life ;  and  the 
life  was  the  light  of  men."  "This  is  the  con- 
demnation, that  light  is  come  into  the  world, 
and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light, 
because  their  deeds  v/ere  evil."  The  sin  is  that 
men  have  had  opened  to  them,  in  Christ,  the 
upper  world  and  a  higher  destiny  than  a  mere 
temporal  earthly  being,  and  that  they  are  so 
much  under  the  power  of  an  earthly  habit  that 
they  will  not  rise  and  live  up  to  the  infinite 
possibilities  of  their  being.  They  live  up  to 
honesty  in  business,  perhaps,  or  faithfulness  in 


342  CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 

the  family,  but  they  do  not  live  up  to  God. 
Spiritually  they  may  be  in  darkness  or  slow 
decline.  The  leprosy  which  has  seized  upon 
humanity,  and  become  a  living,  encroaching 
death,  appears  in  the  fact  that  men  make  dark- 
ness their  element,  that  they  even  deny  their 
capacity  for  a  spiritual  and  immortal  life,  and 
that  they  choose  to  live  "  without  hope  and 
without  God  in  the  world."  The  earthly  habit 
persisted  in,  blinds  the  perceptions  so  that  a 
man's  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  present  and 
sense  and  self.  He  does  not  want  to  be  saved 
from  his  present  sensual  and  selfish  gratifica- 
tions, and  yet  there  is  a  lingering  consciousness 
that  he  has  fallen  beneath  himself.  The  reck- 
lessness, the  discontent,  the  natural  religious- 
ness of  our  kind  prove  it. 

Now,  Christ  came  to  save  us  from  this  lost, 
this  darkened,  this  unsatisfied  condition.  The 
language  of  the  gospel  is :  "  Awake,  thou  that 
sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ 
shall  give  thee  light."  He  comes  to  restore 
the  lost  order,  to  bring  our  spirits  back  into  the 
relation  of  sonship  to  the  Father  of  our  spirits, 
to  make  us  know  that  death  is  but  an  incident 


CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 


343 


of  our  being  and  that  there  is  a  larger  life 
beyond,  and  to  inspire  a  new  and  divine  spirit 
in  our  humanity,  even  the  spirit  of  brotherhood, 
by  which  He  may  realise  a  kingdom  of  God 
among  men,  and  in  the  fulness  of  time  a  "  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness." 

II.  The  incident  of  the  lepers  illustrates  the 
method  by  which  we  may  realise  the  salvation 
which  Christ  makes  possible  for  us.  The  salva- 
tion is  a  cleansing,  a  making  pure,  an  inbreath- 
ing of  a  new  and  divine  life.  "  It  came  to  pass, 
that,  as  they  went  [or  "in  going"],  they  were 
cleansed."  They  could  not  be  received  back 
into  the  fellowship  of  Israel  until  they  had  been 
examined  by  the  priests  and  proved  clean  of 
their  leprosy.  "  Go  show  yourselves  unto  the 
priests,"  said  our  Lord.  They  might  have 
answered :  "  But  we  are  lepers ;  we  must  be 
healed  first."  He  bids  them  act  as  those  who 
are  already  cleansed — to  go  in  that  confidence, 
and  to  leave  the  issue  with  Him.  They  had 
faith  enough  to  obey.  Before  they  reached  the 
appointed  place  of  examination  they  were  new 
creatures.     Their    flesh    (as    was    written    of 


344 


CLE/ihISED  IN  GOING. 


Naaman  the  Syrian)   came  again,   "  like  unto 
the  flesh  of  a  little  child." 

Christ's  method  with  them  is  a  perfect  illus- 
tration of  His  method  with  every  earnest  soul 
that  turns  to  Him  for  life  and  light  and  heal- 
ing. You  look  at  yourselves,  and  think  how 
ignorant  you  are,  how  weak,  how  stained  with 
the  sins  of  your  past,  how  certain  to  break  your 
good  resolutions  and  come  under  the  power  of 
bad  tempers  and  habits.  Christ  says:  "Go 
show  yourselves  unto  the  priests."  Take  for 
granted  that  in  the  mind  and  purpose  of  God 
yau  are  redeemed  from  sin  and  accepted  as  the 
children  of  His  kingdom.  Act  as  those  who 
stand  already  purified  within  the  gates  of  Jeru- 
salem the  golden.  Do  not  trouble  yourselves 
abou.t  the  leprosy  which  seems  still  to  cripple 
you.  Leave  that  to  the  higher  power  which 
bids  you  go  forward  into  a  higher,  nobler  life. 
"Ye  were  once  darkness,"  said  Paul  to  the 
Ephesian  Christians,  "  but  are  now  light  in  the 
Lord :  walk  as  children  of  light  (for  the  fruit  of 
the  light  is  in  all  goodness  and  righteousness 
and  truth)."  Always  St.  Paul  is  urging  the 
new  Christians  to  rise  to  their  privileges,  and  to 


CLEANSED  IN  GOING.  345 

grow  by  living  up  to  and  in  them.  They  were 
not  actually  dead  to  their  sins,  and  yet  he  bids 
them  "  reckon  themselves  dead  indeed  unto  sin, 
but  alive  unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  His  constant  thought  is  in  the  line  of 
the  story  of  the  lepers,  the  privilege  and  the 
positivencss  of  the  Christian  life. 

I  think  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  make  too 
much  of  the  renunciations  and  responsibilities 
which  are  involved  in  turning  from  the  old  life 
to  the  new.  It  is  true  that  our  Lord  said :  "  If 
any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self, and  take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow 
me  " ;  but  the  self-denial  is  only  the  necessary 
giving  up  of  our  own  way,  the  going  out  of  our 
earthly,  selfish  habit,  in  order  that  He  may  have 
His  way  and  lead  us  up  to  better  things.  He 
also  said :  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you.  .  .  .  For 
my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is  light."  We 
are  like  the  old  man  in  one  of  Dickens's  stories, 
who  had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  the  con- 
tracted sphere  of  a  debtors'  prison  that  freedom 
bewildered  him.  He  could  not  appreciate  the 
better,  broader  life  to  which  he  was  restored. 
His  thoughts  turned  back  with  longing  to  the 


346  CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 

prison  and  its  routine.  We  are  like  birds  which 
have  been  long  caged  and  then  set  free.  They 
linger  on  the  threshold  of  their  cages;  they  do 
not  seem  to  see  the  open  door;  they  flutter 
their  wings,  and  seem  to  have  forgotten  how  to 
use  them.  It  is  just  here  that  the  Christian 
Church  meets  us,  with  its  divine  offices,  to  help 
and  teach  and  strengthen  us.  It  is  the  king- 
dom of  God  upon  earth.  The  first  step  in  the 
obedience  of  faith  is  with  an  honest  purpose  to 
identify  ourselves  with  that  kingdom  in  its  visi- 
bility by  a  public  confession  of  our  faith  in 
baptism  and  confirmation.  The  first  Christians 
(taught  by  the  apostles  of  our  Lord  Himself),  in 
the  freshness  of  their  Heaven- inspired  wisdom, 
were  baptised,  and  then,  wc  arc  told,  "  they 
continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  teaching 
and  fellowship,  and  in  the  breaking  of  bread 
and  the  prayers."  These  are  our  privileges. 
We  are  brought  at  once  into  relation  with  an 
order  of  Christ's  appointment,  a  ministry  of 
teaching,  a  sacrament  of  love  and  grace,  in  the 
breaking  of  bread,  offices  of  prayer  and  praise, 
fellowship  with  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  in 
sincerity,  and,  working  through  all,  the  abiding 


CLEANSED  IN  GOING.  347 

presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter,  the 
Lord  and  Giver  of  life. 

But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  a  mere  formal 
membership  with  the  visible  Church  is  the  end 
of  our  journey.  We  are  lepers  still,  if  we  rest 
here.  We  are  to  go  out  through  the  sacra- 
ments, the  helps,  and  teachings  of  the  Church 
into  a  positive  living  for  God.  Nothing  less 
than  this  can  be  the  meaning  of  the  confirma- 
tion prayer :  "  Defend,  O  Lord,  this  Thy  Child 
with  Thy  heavenly  grace ;  that  he  may  con- 
tinue Thine  for  ever ;  and  daily  increase  in  Thy 
Holy  Spirit  more  and  more,  until  he  come  unto 
Thy  everlasting  kingdom."  He  has  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  kingdom  on  earth.  The  end  is 
still  before  him  —  the  "everlasting  kingdom," 
the  movement  forward,  a  daily  increase  in  the 
Holy  Spirit  more  and  more.  I  speak  of  the 
positiveness  of  obedience  because  there  is  so 
much  mere  negative  Christian  living,  if  it  can 
be  called  living.  People  who  call  themselves 
Christians  are  satisfied  with  a  mere  trying  not 
to  do  anything  very  wrong.  They  know  that 
they  must  "avoid  those  things  v/hich  are  con- 
trary to  their  profession,"  but  they  lose  sight 


348  CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 

entirely  of  the  other  side  of  their  duty,  which 
is  to  "  do  all  those  things  which  are  agreeable 
to  the  same."  When  we  come  to  the  final  test 
of  which  our  Lord  has  forewarned  us,  it  will 
not  be  by  the  evil  which  we  have  done  that  our 
meetness  for  the  everlasting  kingdom  shall  be 
determined :  it  will  be  by  the  good  which  we 
have  done,  or  left  undone.  That  is  a  very 
striking  picture  which  He  draws  of  the  sur- 
prised multitude,  who  had  not  been  conscious 
of  doing  anything  wrong,  exclaiming:  "When 
saw  we  Thee  an  hungered,  or  athirst,  or  naked, 
or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  unto  Thee?" 
"  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not,"  He  answers, 
"  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to 
mc."  They  had  left  out  of  their  lives  that 
which  is  the  soul  of  a  true  faith,  that  which 
makes  it  alive  unto  God — the  positiveness  of 
love.  Love  is  the  supreme  and  all-inclusive 
principle  of  Christian  obedience.  Not  love  in 
the  mere  human  sense,  nor  love  in  that  soft, 
effeminate  sense  in  v/hich  it  is  often  made  to 
appear,  and  from  v/hich  men  instinctively  re- 
coil, but  love  as  Paul  defines  it, — "  out  of  a 
pure   heart,  and   a  good   conscience,  and  faith 


CLEANSED  IN   GOING. 


349 


unfeigned," — love  which  seeks  the  highest  good 
of  all,  my  own  included,  in  and  from  the  inspira- 
tion caught  in  one  great  glow  of  light  from  God 
manifested  in  Jesus  Christ.  Such  a  love  is  not 
a  broad  smile  of  passive  benevolence,  nor  a 
gush  of  general  sympathy,  expressing  itself  in 
sighs  and  epithets,  but  2i  force,  moving  for  God 
in  lines  of  right  and  purity  and  active  effort  for 
the  welfare  of  mankind.  It  makes  for  light  and 
help  and  brotherhood.  It  is  like  the  oxygen 
latent  in  the  atmosphere,  whose  tremendous 
energy  we  do  not  realise  until  it  combines  with 
matter  at  a  certain  temperature  and  bursts  into 
flame.  Love  born  of  a  real  knowledge  of 
Christ  in  the  heart  flames  into  zeal  for  right 
and  truth  and  purit)^  It  is  more  than  the 
external  acts,  the  almsgiving  and  good  deeds, 
which  pity  might  prompt.  It  is  the  habit  of 
living  the  lives  of  our  fellow-men,  in  our  daily 
contact  with  them,  sympathetically,  ^s  inti- 
mately and  completely  as  we  live  our  own  —  the 
habit  of  identifying  ourselves  with  their  condi- 
tions and  interests  and  feelings  before  presum- 
ing even  to  think  a  judgment  concerning  them. 
Study   the   thirteenth   chapter   of    Paul's    First 


35° 


CLEANSED  IN  GOING. 


Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  absorb  it  into  your 
minds  and  hearts  and  daily  living,  and  you  will 
"  walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  loved  us,  and  gave 
Himself  for  us." 

Living  up  to  the  privileges  and  walking  in 
the  positiveness  of  a  true  faith,  you  will  be 
cleansed.  You  will  not  be  overcome  of  evil, 
but  you  will  overcome  evil  with  good.  Going 
out  of  yourselves  constantly  into  that  which  is 
pure  and  useful  and  unselfish,  the  old  evil 
habits  will  lose  their  power  over  you.  You  will 
be  so  occupied  in  looking  forward  to  ever  new 
truths  and  new  activities  and  richer  experiences 
in  Christian  living,  that  there  will  be  no  time 
nor  place  for  brooding  over  the  old  life.  You 
will  learn  to  listen  for  God's  voice  not  only 
outside  of  you,  in  His  Church  and  Word,  but 
in  yourselves.  He  will  come  unto  you  and 
make  His  abode  with  you.  You  will  keep 
j'-ourselves  honest  and  open  and  obedient  to  all 
the  best,  purest,  and  most  spiritual  impulses  of 
your  natures.  These  impulses  press  upon 
every  man  in  his  hidden  life ;  but  the  multitude 
stifle  them,  and  so  quench  tlie  Holy  Spirit  of 
God. 


CLEANSED  IN   GOING.  351 

They  were  cleansed.  Their  flesh  came  unto 
them  Hke  unto  the  flesh  of  a  httle  child.  So 
the  Saviour's  words  are  realised :  "  Except  ye 
be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children,  ye 
shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
May  it  be  said  of  us,  when  those  who  come 
after  shall  tell  our  story,  that,  "  as  they  went, 
they  were  cleansed  "  ! 


XIX. 


XIX. 
THE  MILITARY   IDEA.* 

The  ce?iturion  answered  and  said,  Lord,  I  am  not 
worthy  that  Thou  shouhist  come  imder  my  roof : 
but  speak  the  word  only,  and  my  servant  shall  bt 
healed.  For  I  am  a  man  tinder  authority,  having 
soldiers  under  me  :  and  J  say  to  this  man,  Go,  and 
he  goeth  ;  afid  to  another,  Come,  and  he  cometh  ; 
and  to  my  servant,  Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it. — 
St.  Matt.  viii.  8,  9. 

''TpHIS  centurion  seems  to  have  been  an  offi- 
•*  cer  of  the  Roman  garrison  at  Capernaum. 
The  Roman  army  was  divided  into  legions; 
each  legion  comprehended  sixty  centuries, 
which,  as  the  name  implies,  were  companies  of 
one  hundred  men  each.  A  centurion  was  the 
captain  of  a  hundred.  This  was  the  rank, 
therefore,  of  the  man  whose  words  we  ask  you 
to  consider.  Though  bom  a  Gentile,  he  had 
become  a  convert  to  the  Jewish   faith.     Dis- 

1  Sermon  preached  on  Washington's  Birthday,  before  First 
Regiment  Infantry,  National  Guard,  Philadelphia. 

333 


356  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

gusted  with  the  miserable  idolatries  and  low 
superstitions  of  his  own  people,  he  had  turned 
with  hope  to  the  promises  laid  up  with  the 
Jews.  He  beheved  in  their  God,  and  hoped  in 
His  mercy.  When  the  rumour  of  Christ's 
wonderful  v/isdom  and  mighty  works  reached 
him,  he  at  once  gave  in  the  allegiance  of  his 
heart.  His  faith  is  made  singularly  conspic- 
uous by  the  commendation  which  our  Lord 
bestowed  upon  it :  "I  have  not  found  so  great 
faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  The  occasion  which 
called  forth  this  strong  remark  was  the  danger- 
ous illness  of  the  centurion's  servant.  The 
man  had  probably  been  the  companion  of  his 
toils  and  dangers  through  many  years,  and  was 
very  dear  unto  him.  But  as  one  not  born  in 
the  household  of  Israel,  he  felt  that  he  had  no 
claim  upon  the  Messiah.  He  therefore  pre- 
vailed upon  certain  elders  of  Israel  to  intercede 
for  him  with  Christ  in  behalf  of  his  sick  servant. 
When  they  came  to  Jesus  they  besought  Him 
instantly,  or  urgently,  saying  that  "  he  was 
worthy  for  whom  He  should  do  this :  for  he 
loveth  our  nation,  and  hath  built  us  a  syna- 
gogue,"     Our    Lord    went    with    them.      But 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


357 


when  the  soldier  saw  Him  coming,  his  military 
ideas  of  propriety  began  to  assert  themselves. 
He  realised  the  great  disparity  in  rank  between 
that  approaching  Lord  and  himself.  He  felt 
that  the  Commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  in 
heaven  and  earth  was  before  him.  He  blamed 
himself  for  having  presumed  to  send  for  his 
superior  officer;  and  so  anxious  was  he  to 
repair  the  error  that  he  sent  another  detach- 
ment of  friends  to  detain  Christ  and  say  to 
Him,  on  his  behalf :  "  Lord,  trouble  not  Thyself : 
for  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldst  enter 
under  my  roof :  wherefore  neither  thought  I 
myself  worthy  to  come  unto  Thee :  but  say  in  a 
word,  and  my  servant  shall  be  healed."  Then 
follows  the  argument,  drawn  from  his  stern 
profession,  which  so  fully  exhibits  his  faith : 
"  For  I  am  a  man  under  authority,  having  sol- 
diers under  me :  and  I  say  to  this  man.  Go,  and 
he  goeth ;  and  to  another,  Come,  and  he 
Cometh ;  and  to  my  servant,  Do  this,  and  he 
doeth  it."  You  observe  the  grandeur  of  the 
thought.  "  If  I,  holding  a  subordinate  position, 
myself  under  authority,  have  soldiers  under  me, 
who  go  and  come  at  my  word,  how  much  more 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


-slialt  Thou,  the  great  Caesar  of  the  universe, 
command  the  healing  forces,  and  by  a  word 
reach  my  poor  servant's  case!  "  His  faith  was 
rewarded,  and  the  immediate  restoration  of  his 
dying  servant  proved  that  he  had  rightly 
judged  Christ  to  be  the  great  "  Captain  of  our 
salvation." 

He  reasoned  up,  you  observe,  from  his  pro- 
fession as  a  soldier  to  Christ.  He  applied  the 
principles  of  authority,  obedience,  and  power, 
which  he  was  accustomed  to  act  upon  in  his 
own  life,  to  the  higher  matters  of  the  spiritual 
world.  He  argued  that  if  authority  was  re- 
spected and  obeyed  among  men,  how  much 
more  was  the  authority  of  God  entitled  to 
respect,  and  able  to  command  that  which  it 
willed.  There  is  no  legitimate  trade,  occupa- 
tion, relation,  or  profession  in  life  which  will 
not  educate  us  up  to  something  higher,  if  we 
have  faith  to  look  beyond  it.  We  were  not 
made,  like  the  brute  beasts,  to  serve  mere  mate- 
rial ends,  but  the  material  forms  under  which 
we  live  were  made  to  serve  us.  As  through 
the  visible  things  of  the  creation  we  reach  a 
conception  of  the  invisible  Creator,  so  through 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA.  359 

the  various  forms  and  departments  of  human 
life  we  rise  to  a  knowledge  of  the  principles 
which  are  essential  to  our  highest  well-being. 
Domestic  life  contains  the  divine  idea  of  God's 
Fatherhood,  and  the  family  is  a  school  in  which 
the  choicest  spiritual  truths  may  be  learned. 
Commercial  life  brings  into  play  those  essential 
principles,  faith  and  truth;  and  through  an 
experience  of  their  fundamental  worth  between 
man  and  man,  we  are  able  to  appreciate,  if  we 
will,  their  supreme  importance  between  man 
and  God.  So  military  life  embodies  certain 
universal  principles  which  are  worthy  of  being 
applied  to  a  wider  circle  of  interests  than  that 
in  which  we  find  them  illustrated. 

Let  us  consider,  then,  the  military  idea ;  and 
I  ask  you,  my  hearers,  to  mark  well  the  prin- 
ciples to  which,  as  soldiers,  you  are  committed ; 
for  if  you  act  upon  them  in  the  lower  circle  of 
things,  where  the  obligations  are  least  strong 
and  the  necessity  least  urgent,  you  are  con- 
victed of  folly  if  you  fail  to  act  upon  them  in 
the  higher  sphere  of  God  and  the  soul, 

T.  You  will  at  once  admit  that  respect  for 
authority  is  essential  to  the  military  idea.     We 


360  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

conceive  an  army  to  be  a  solid  engine  of  war, 
compacted  of  individual  men,  systematically 
adjusted,  and  under  the  absolute  control  of  one 
master  mind.  Its  whole  efficiency  depends 
upon  the  facility  with  which  a  multitude  of  men 
can  be  wheeled,  moved  forward,  or  halted,  at 
command.  Order  is,  therefore,  the  first  law  of 
an  army ;  but  there  can  be  no  order  without 
obedience,  and  no  obedience  without  law,  and 
no  law  can  be  effective  without  authority  to 
maintain  it.  When  authority  is  not  main- 
tained, discipline  is  relaxed,  confusion  ensues, 
and  the  army  becomes  a  mere  mob.  Yet  no 
man  feels  that  his  liberty  of  action  is  restricted 
in  battle  by  being  under  orders.  He  knows, 
on  the  contrary,  that  he  can  work  out  the 
inspiration  which  he  feels,  with  the  utmost 
efficiency,  by  acting  strictly  according  to  rule. 
He  submits  to  law  because  he  cannot  be  a 
good  soldier  otherwise.  The  more  he  loves  his 
profession,  or  the  cause  which  he  seeks  to 
honour  by  it,  the  more  will  he  glory  in  being 
"  a  man  under  authority." 

But  the  army  is  not  the  only  department  of 
life  in  which  respect  for  authority  is  necessary. 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA.  361 

There  can  be  no  order,  harmony,  or  happiness 
anywhere  without  it.  Our  best  interests  are 
conserved,  and  the  fullest  manhood  developed, 
by  submission  to  law.  The  discipline  of  the 
army  economises  physical  force — uses  it  to  the 
best  advantage,  and  secures  for  the  individual 
the  fullest  exercise  of  his  powers.  The  patriot 
knows  that  he  can  accomplish  more  for  his 
country,  if  fighting  must  needs  be,  by  entering 
the  ranks,  and  so  putting  himself  under  law, 
than  he  could  possibly  achieve  alone.  But  the 
organisation  of  physical  force  is  among  the 
lowest  and  last  necessities  of  our  social  condi- 
tion. Back  of  the  army  is  the  state.  It  re- 
quires a  militia,  as  it  requires  police ;  but  its 
nobler  purpose  is  to  conserve  the  social  forces, 
to  promote  intelligence  and  industry,  to  drill 
men  into  honest  living,  and  to  advance  the 
common  good  by  demanding  individual  loyalty. 
It  is  no  restriction  of  our  liberty  that  we  should 
be  required  to  be  good  citizens.  We  only  sur- 
render so  much  of  our  liberty  as  would  tend  to 
trample  upon  a  neighbour's  rights  and  break 
down  the  general  prosperity.  In  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  common  good  we  have  the  freest 


362  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


scope  for  the  exercise  of  our  individual  powers. 
Liberty  is  not  lawlessness,  but  the  truest  civil 
liberty  and  the  best  happiness  of  each  individ- 
ual grow  out  of  respect  for  authorit)^.  When 
this  breaks  down,  anarchy,  poverty,  distress, 
and  general  wretchedness  ensue. 

This  principle  has  perhaps  its  best  illustration 
in  the  family.  That  is  the  nursery  of  the  state. 
If  a  man  is  not  taught  to  respect  authority 
there,  he  is  very  apt  to  develop  lawlessness  in 
all  the  other  relations  of  life.  But  who  will  say 
that  a  child's  truest  welfare  is  not  promoted  by 
the  discipline  of  the  household  ?  Who  will  say 
that  it  is  not  according  to  the  dictates  of  the 
truest  love  to  control  his  waywardness,  restrain 
his  evil  tempers,  enforce  the  laws  of  truth,  love, 
and  right,  and  subject  him  to  the  discipline  of 
the  school-room? 

The  principle  of  subjection  to  authority  is 
stamped  into  the  vtry  constitution  of  things. 
The  system  of  nature  in  which  we  stand  holds 
us  under  laws  which  we  cannot  violate  with 
impunity.  We  must  respect  the  laws  of  gravi- 
tation, or  get  hurt,  if  not  killed.  We  must 
respect  the  laws  of  health,  or  suffer  and  die. 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA.  363 

The  child  is  drilled  by  experience  to  fall  into 
the  line  of  nature's  ordinances,  if  he  would  not 
fall,  be  burned,  or  make  himself  sick. 

But  all  these  forms  of  authority  are  simply 
the  visible  embodiments  of  the  supreme  author- 
ity which  is  lodged  in  the  great  God.  Back 
of  physical,  civil,  and  social  laws  is  the  moral 
law  which  clothes  them  with  authority  and 
asserts  itself  in  the  Bible  and  in  your  own  con- 
sciences. If  we  submit  ourselves  to  military 
rule  for  the  sake  of  physical  conquests,  if  we 
conform  ourselves  to  the  civil  authority  for  the 
sake  of  present  peace  and  prosperit}%  if  wc 
obey  the  laws  of  nature  to  save  ourselves  from 
bodily  ruin,  is  there  not  stronger  reason  stili 
why  we  should  respect  the  divine  authority  by 
which  alone  the  moral  foes  which  create  all  our 
present  evils  can  be  conquered,  the  joys  of  a 
life  beyond  the  present  fleeting  world  be  se- 
cured, and  the  immortal  soul  saved  from  ever- 
lasting pains? 

"  Better,"  said  the  wise  man,  "  is  he  that 
ruleth  his  own  spirit  than  he  that  taketh  a 
city."  Think  how  profoundly  true  this  is. 
The   evils  v/hich  break   out  in  noisy  disturb- 


364  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

ances,  and  which  often  require  to  be  subdued 
by  physical  force,  are  really  moral  evils. 
"  Whence  come  wars  and  fightings  among 
you  ?  "  said  St.  James ;  "  come  they  not  even  of 
your  lusts  which  war  in  your  members?  "  The 
foes  which  civil  law  seeks  to  restrain,  and  mili- 
tary rule  to  subdue,  are  really  within  us.  He 
is,  therefore,  the  best  defender  of  the  public 
peace  and  maintainer  of  the  laws  who  respects 
God's  authority  in  his  own  soul,  who  submits 
in  unquestioning  faith  to  Christ  as  the  Captain 
of  his  salvation,  who  labours  in  the  strength  of 
Christ,  and  according  to  the  will  of  Christ,  to 
subdue  his  mutinous  passions,  control  his  tem- 
pers, destroy  the  j^ower  of  sin,  cast  out  foul 
thoughts,  and  maintain  a  holy  character.  To 
this,  the  chief  business  of  life,  we  call  you. 
The  discipline  which  you  recognise  in  every 
other  department  of  life  is  absolutely  essential 
to  the  prosperity  of  your  souls.  Will  you  hon- 
our men,  and  refuse  to  honour  your  Maker? 
Do  you  suppose  that  the  God  whose  physical 
laws  you  dare  not  violate  is  less  exact  in  His 
moral  government?  Believe  me,  if  your  souls 
are   not   brought   into   absolute  subjection  to 


THE  MILITARY  IDE  J.  365 

Him  who  has  so  graciously  manifested  Himself 
in  Christ,  defeat  is  certain.  The  state  of  sin  in 
which  you  are  is  a  state  of  mutiny,  and  must 
end  in  chains  and  darkness. 

H.  But  we  hasten  to  point  out  another  ele- 
ment of  the  military  idea.  Self-subordination 
is  absolutely  essential.  The  soldier  must  sink 
his  individuality  in  the  common  cause.  He 
must  submit  all  his  movements  to  the  will  of  his 
superior.  He  must  go  where  he  is  sent,  stand 
where  he  is  put,  and  do  what  he  is  told,  no 
matter  how  hard,  dangerous,  or  painful,  without 
a  v>-ord  of  remonstrance.  He  must  consent  to 
be  wheeled  about  as  the  cannon  are.  He  must 
not  carry  his  hands  or  his  feet  as  he  would,  but 
by  constant  drill  learn  to  step,  run,  carry,  and 
halt  v.'ith  the  precision  of  a  machine.  In  active 
service  he  must  bear  exposure,  endure  hard- 
ship, suffer  hunger,  toil  through  painful  marches, 
face  the  fiercest  fire,  and  in  countless  forms 
subordinate  himself  to  the  cause  or  commander 
he  serves.  Men  submit  to  all  this  from  various 
motives.  Sometimes  a  mere  love  of  excite- 
ment prompts  them.  Sometimes  the  rewards 
of  ambition  attract  them.     Sometimes  a  love  of 


366  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

country  or  the  exigencies  of  some  great  occa- 
sion will  move  them.  Sometimes  they  do  it  for 
pay,  and  sometimes,  when  there  is  not  much 
risk  of  being  called  into  active  service,  a  mere 
love  of  display  is  the  motive. 

But  in  whatever  department  of  the  service 
a  man  may  be  enlisted,  he  cannot  as  a  soldier 
have  his  own  way.  We  point  to  the  fact 
because  it  is  one  of  many  illustrations  which 
life  affords  of  the  possibility  of  self-control 
under  certain  circumstances.  Men  will  hold 
themselves  in  subjection  for  an  earthly  good, 
submit  to  all  sorts  of  restrictions  and  incon- 
veniences, and  yet  decline  to  make  any  sacri- 
fices for  the  sake  of  God,  righteousness,  and 
eternal  life.  This  is  one  of  the  strange  incon- 
sistencies of  human  nature.  Religion  is  not 
the  only  thing  in  life  which  calls  for  self-denial 
and  cross-bearing.  There  is  scarcely  a  trade, 
profession,  or  pleasure  which  does  not  involve 
self-subjection  in  some  form. 

Just  see  how  the  pugilist  will  train  himself 
for  some  brutal  encounter.  If  a  preacher 
should  exhort  him  for  the  sake  of  his  soul's 
welfare  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly 


THE  MILITARY   IDEA.  367 


in  this  present  world,  he  would  scoff  at  him. 
But  for  the  sake  of  the  miserable  chance  of 
bruising  and  battering  into  helplessness  a  fel- 
low-man, and  the  small  renown  which  that  will 
bring,  he  will  put  himself  under  training,  regu- 
late his  habits  severely,  abstain  from  intoxicat- 
ing drinks,  exercise  himself  according  to  rule, 
deny  himself  all  but  the  plainest  and  most 
wholesome  food,  and  measure  ofT  his  hours  of 
sleeping  and  waking  with  the  utmost  exactness. 
He  will  pursue  this  course  of  life  for  months 
sometimes,  and  all  to  gratify  a  brutal  ambition. 
We  witness  the  same  thing  under  the  much 
higher  forms  of  commercial  life.  Men  must  toil 
to  get  wealth.  There  would  be  no  harm  if 
they  saw  beyond  it  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness,  and  regulated  the  pursuit 
and  the  use  by  those  higher  principles.  But 
we  speak  of  those  who  seek  wealth  for  its  own 
sake.  They  do  it  with  "a  feverishness,  inten- 
sity, and  devotion  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 
Their  rest  is  broken,  their  health  disregarded, 
their  comfort  sacrificed,  in  the  mad  pursuit. 
They  practise  painful  economies,  deny  them- 
selves needful  recreation,  and  allow  themselves 


368  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

no  time  for  personal  improvement,  on  the 
ground  that  they  will  settle  down  and  enjoy  life 
by  and  by.  They  are  willing  to  sacrifice  pres- 
ent pleasure  for  the  sake  of  that  future  possi- 
bility— that  golden  realisation  which  so  many 
dream  of,  but  none  ever  reach.  They  will 
endure  all  sorts  of  disagreeable  people  and 
associations,  if  they  see  gold  glittering  through 
them.  They  will  smile  upon  men  whom  they 
detest,  be  patient  with  men  who  abuse  them, 
curb  their  tempers  before  men  whom  profanity 
would  offend,  and  adapt  themselves  to  all  sorts 
of  characters  with  a  marvellous  degree  of  self- 
command  ;  and  yet  the  crown,  when  they  reach 
it,  is  a  withered  crown  and  full  of  thorns.  The 
experience  of  multitudes  assures  us  that  it  is 
not  worth  the  toils  and  sacrifices  and  waste  of 
manhood  which  it  costs. 

We  need  hardly  remind  you  how  men,  for 
the  sake  of  political  place  and  power,  will  con- 
sciously degrade  themselves,  sacrifice  their  self- 
respect,  allow  themselves  to  be  drilled  into  the 
service  of  some  party,  lay  down  their  very 
manhood,  and  harness  upon  themselves  a  mul- 
titude of  cares  and  humiliations.     Why,  if  one 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA.  369 

half  the  thought,  zeal,  labour,  and  martyr-like 
self-subordination  which  some  men  display  in 
their  ambition  for  office  were  transferred  to  the 
service  of  Christ,  they  would  be  called  mad 
fanatics. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  does  not,  therefore, 
ask  a  strange  thing  of  us  when  He  says :  "  If 
any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self, take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me."  You 
will  subject  yourselves  to  drill  and  hardship  and 
labour  for  some  temporal  good — some  miser- 
able, perishable  thing  which  does  not  satisfy 
when  you  gain  it,  and  must  be  left  behind  when 
you  die.  He  says:  "Do  this  for  m.e :  subor- 
dinate yourselves  to  my  great  cause ;  live  to  do 
my  will ;  crucify  your  own  desires ;  let  not  the 
world  delude  you ;  drill  yourselves  by  prayer 
and  faith  and  active  duty  into  habits  of  obedi- 
ence ;  *  Endure  hardness,  as  good  soldiers  of 
Jesus  Christ ' ;  set  your  thoughts  and  hearts 
upon  immortality  ;  keep  step  with  the  good  and 
true  in  all  noble  activities.  The  end  is  not 
uncertain:  death  itself  shall  not  obstruct  your 
march :  when  you  stand  in  eternity,  I,  your 
great  Captain,  will  greet  you ;  I  will  say,  *  Well 


370  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

done,  good  and  faithful  servants ' ;  I  will  place 
the  crown  of  life  upon  your  heads;  I  will  give 
you  the  treasures  of  imperishable  joy;  I  will 
bring  you  in  triumph  to  my  Father's  house,  and 
there  shall  you  dwell  with  me  for  ever." 

When  we  see  a  well-drilled  regiment  march- 
ing in  perfect  order,  each  man  in  his  place, 
every  company  moving  in  exact  lines,  every 
step  measured,  and  the  whole  movement  timed 
to  inspiring  music,  we  think  how  subhme  the 
lives  of  these  perfectly  adjusted  men  would  be 
if  they  were  as  rigidly  under  the  command  of 
God  in  their  souls  as  they  are  in  their  bodies 
under  the  command  of  men.  How  square  and 
solid  their  characters  would  be!  How  firmly 
their  steps  would  be  measured  by  duty !  How, 
in  all  the  spirit  of  their  lives,  they  would  be 
found  keeping  time  to  the  music  of  Christ's 
love!  How  strong  and  determined  would  be 
their  march  against  all  unrighteousness  and 
wrong!  How  true  would  they  be  to  their 
marching  orders,  "  Fighting  the  good  fight  of 
faith,  and  laying  hold  on  eternal  life  " !  How 
much  more  they  would  be  worth  to  the  world 
— how   much    stronger  and    nobler   in    them- 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


37« 


selves,  as  men  disciplined  in  character,  than 
they  can  be  as  men  merely  disciplined  in  body. 

III.  Enthusiasm  is  another  and  very  essen- 
tial element  of  the  military  idea.  There  must 
be  a  soul  in  every  military  organisation,  or  it 
will  lack  force  and  cohesion.  The  pervading 
spirit  may  be  pride  in  the  body  itself,  devotion 
to  a  commander,  the  inspiration  of  some  great 
cause,  or  all  of  these  combined.  When  that 
which  the  French  call  esprit  de  corps  is  lost,  we 
say  that  the  army  is  demoralised. 

History  affords  many  illustrations  of  its 
power.  How  it  thrilled  through  Napoleon's 
jaded  troops  when  he  fell  over  into  the  marsh 
at  Areola,  and  the  cry  went  up:  "Forward, 
to  save  your  general!  "  They  were  weary, 
dispirited,  worn ;  but  they  forgot  all,  and  pressed 
onward  with  one  strong  purpose  to  rescue  their 
great  chief.  How  beautifully  it  was  illustrated 
in  that  young  Frenchman  who  was  found 
wounded  upon  the  field,  in  the  late  German 
war!  The  surgeons  of  the  victorious  force 
which  had  struck  him  down  came  to  care  for 
the  suffering.  He  refused  to  be  moved.  They 
pleaded  with  him,  but  he  begged  them  to  leave 


372 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


him  and  care  for  others.  When  they  came 
back  to  him  he  was  dead — "  off  duty  for  ever." 
They  lifted  him  for  burial,  and  then  they 
understood  why  he  would  not  have  his  bleeding 
wounds  stanched.  Beneath  him  lay  the  colours 
of  his  rcgiuicnt.  And  I  remember,  too,  that 
scene  at  Waterloo.  An  orderly  dashed  up  to 
the  Iron  Duke,  and  told  him  that  a  certain 
brigade  would  be  cut  to  pieces  by  the  furious 
onsets  of  the  French,  if  not  immediately  relieved. 
"Tell  them  to  stand  firm,"  was  the  reply. 
"  But  we  shall  perish,"  said  the  officer.  "  Stand 
firm,"  was  the  inflexible  answer.  "  You  '11  find 
us  there,"  rejoined  the  officer;  and  they  were 
"  found  there,"  for  every  man  of  that  gallant 
brigade  perished  at  the  post  of  duty. 

Shall  there  be  such  enthusiasm  for  an  earthly 
cause,  and  human  leaders,  and  perishing  organ- 
isations, and  shall  we  find  fault  with  enthusiasm 
when  it  is  demanded  for  righteousness,  Christ, 
and  the  Church  of  the  living  God?  Men  are 
not  afraid  of  earnestness  in  earthly  matters. 
Lukewarmness  will  not  accomplish  anything. 
A  man  must  have  a  passion  for  literature, 
music,  painting,  money-making,  or  political  life, 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


373 


if  he  expects  to  succeed.  But  if  a  man  or 
woman  is  set  on  fire  by  religious  convictions, 
and  by  the  force  of  those  convictions  opposes 
wrong  courses  in  business,  goes  dov/n  into  dens 
and  alleys  to  save  souls,  or  away  off  to  Africa 
to  teach  and  preach,  the  world  shrugs  its 
shoulders  and  says,  "  Fanaticism."  Those 
women  in  the  West  who  are  trying  to  pray 
down  the  liquor  traffic  may  be  immoderate  in 
their  zeal ;  but  better  such  immoderation  in  a 
good  cause  than  the  immoderation  of  base 
appetites  which  justifies  such  crusades.  We 
are  in  far  more  danger  from  too  much  modera- 
tion in  religion  than  from  an  overflow  of 
immoderate  enthusiasm.  Men  can  be  immod- 
erate in  their  tempers,  their  ambitions,  their 
words,  their  pleasures,  their  appetites;  but  the 
noblest  passion  of  all,  the  passion  for  righteous- 
ness and  truth,  is  suffered  to  lie  cold  and  dead 
in  their  bosoms. 

And  yet  we  challenge  the  universe  to  pro- 
duce grander  incentives  to  enthusiasm  than  the 
Christian  life  presents.  It  is  the  cause  of  truth 
against  falsehood,  of  righteousness  against  sin, 
of  eternity  against  time,  of  God  against  devils, 


374 


THE  MILITARY  IDEaI. 


of  joy  against  woe — of  all  that  is  spiritual  and 
distinctive  of  our  true  manhood,  against  that 
which  is  mean,  debasing,  and  worthy  only  of 
brute  beasts. 

Its  Leader —  oh,  who  can  paint  His  perfec- 
tions! He  stands  before  the  world  as  tran- 
scendently  and  spotlessly  glorious  as  one  clothed 
with  the  sun.  He  was  magnificent  in  His  per- 
sonal character, —  even  infidels  admit  that.  He 
was  heroic  in  His  lifelong  endurance  of  sorrow, 
loneliness,  and  shame.  He  was  brilliant  in  all 
His  glowing  words  and  mighty  works.  He  was 
divine  in  His  calm  submission  to  the  cross  for 
our  sake,  and  in  His  triumphant  rising  from  the 
grave,  to  be  crowned  conqueror  over  sin,  Satan, 
and  death!  He  has  gone  before  in  all  the 
path  of  suffering  over  which  His  followers  must 
tread,  and  He  is  living  now  at  God's  right 
hand,  literally  the  soul  and  life  of  the  company 
of  believers.  It  is  no  mere  sentiment,  but  a 
real,  personal  spirit,  which  animates  His  people, 
and  proves  by  the  help  and  comfort  which  it 
bestows  that  He  is  with  them  through  all  their 
march  from  grace  to  glory. 

Do  not,  then,  I  pray  you,  throw  av/ay  senti- 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA.  375 


ment  and  waste  enthusiasm  upon  objects  which 
arc  mean,  delusive,  and  unworthy  of  you,  when 
Christ  is  before  you,  worthy  of  your  most  fer- 
vent love,  and  able  to  fill  you  with  all  the  fulness 
of  God, 

Respect  for  authority,  self-subordination,  and 
enthusiasm  we  have  conceived  to  be  the  ele- 
ments  of  the   military  idea.     He   is  the  true 
soldier  who  carries  them  into  all  the  relations 
of  his  life.     We  are  called  to  remember,  on  this 
sacred   day,    one   who   did   this.     Washington, 
like  the  centurion,  had  faith  to  discern  through 
the  discipline  of  life  the  supreme  authority  of 
God.     He    was    great    in    military,    civil,    and 
social  life,   because  he   was  great  in  personal 
character.     He  was  able  to  command,  because 
in  his  moral  nature  he  was  a  man  under  author- 
ity.    He  recognised  God  in  all  his  private  life 
and  all  his  public  acts.     He  prays,  in  one  of  his 
public  documents,  that  "  God  would  dispose  us 
all  to  demean  ourselves  with  that  charity,  hu- 
mility, and  pacific  temper  of  mind  which  were 
the  characteristics  of  the  divine  Author  of  our 
blessed  religion,  without  an  humble  imitation 
of  whose  example  we  can  never  hope  to  be  a 


376  THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 

happy  nation."  In  accordance  with  this  faith 
in  revelation,  he  avowed  himself  publicly  a 
soldier  of  Christ,  and  subordinated  himself 
strictly  to  the  discipline  of  the  gospel.  "He 
lived,"  said  one  who  knew  him,  "  by  rule.  His 
great  attainments  and  actions  resulted  from 
certain  deliberate  and  virtuous  principles  which 
his  reason  and  conscience  presented,  and  to 
which  he  steadily  and  immovably  adhered. 
He  was  uniformly  superior  to  the  littleness  of 
vanity  and  pride,  of  selfish  ambition  and 
avarice,  of  habitual  vice,  even  in  its  most 
fashionable  and  seducing  forms." 

As  he  was  thus  under  authority  and  subor- 
dinated to  its  will,  his  life  was  full  of  the  spirit 
of  goodness.  He  was  zealous,  not  for  the  army 
or  the  nation  merely,  but  for  God,  truth,  and 
right. 

He  was  a  nobleman  in  all  his  relations, 
because  he  was  not  ashamed  to  be  a  man  under 
divine  rule,  and  to  argue  that  if  it  was  essential 
that  he,  as  general  or  President,  should  com- 
mand obedience,  how  much  more  essential  was 
it  that  he  should  be  in  subjection  to  the  Father 
of  Spirits ;  how  much  more  worthy  of  obedi- 


THE  MILITARY  IDEA. 


377 


ence  was  Christ,  the  great  Captain,  than  any 
earthly  leader! 

We  hold  up  then  before  you  that  which  he 
honoured,  the  old  blood-red  standard  of  the 
cross.  The  Bible  loves  to  represent  the  service 
of  Christ  under  military  figures.  Paul  calls  his 
fellow-Christians  "fellow-soldiers."  He  bids 
them  put  on  the  "  whole  armour  of  God."  He 
points  them  to  Christ  going  as  a  conqueror 
before  them.  The  day  must  soon  come  for 
every  one  of  us  when  the  movements  of  our 
earthly  life  shall  cease,  the  arms  of  our  earthly 
warfare  be  laid  down,  the  uniform  of  time  and 
the  flesh  crumble  away.  The  rewards  of  the 
present  must  perish  with  us.  The  sword  of  the 
greatest  rests  idly  on  his  coffin ;  the  flag  he 
fought  for  is  folded  round  it;  his  steed  has  no 
rider.  But  the  soul  goes  marching  on!  It 
joins  the  throng  which  is  steadily,  though 
silently,  marching  into  eternity.  The  trap- 
pings of  worldly  pomp,  political  greatness,  and 
earthly  wealth  are  left  behind.  The  soul  alone,  in 
its  own  essential  character,  reaches  the  presence 
of  God.  If  the  drill  and  discipline  of  life  have 
not  developed  righteousness,  it  is  a  lost  soul. 


XX. 

meltgion  auD  Social  ^cience< 


XX. 

RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL 
SCIENCE.^ 

A?id,  behold,  a  certain  laivycr  stood  up,  and  tempted 
Him,  saying.  Master,  what  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal 
life?  He  said  unto  him,  What  is  ■written  in  the  law? 
how  readest  thou?  And  he  anstvering  said,  Thou 
shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with 
all  thy  mind;  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  And  He 
said  unto  hun.  Thou  hast  answered  right:  this  do, 
and  thou  shalt  live.  —  %x.  Luke  x.  25-28. 

HAVE   been   relieved   to  find   that  others, 
more  competent  to  do  it  than  myself,  have 

experienced  difficulty  in  defining  social  science. 

I   shall   content   myself  with   a  very   practical 

interpretation  of  it. 

The  subject,  in  the  abstract,  involves  many 

perplexing  problems.     It  deals  with  such  intri- 

1  Preached  before  the  American  Social  Science  Association 
in  Cincinnati. 

381 


382  RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL   SCIENCE. 

cate  relations,  subtle  changes,  and  varied  phe- 
nomena that  the  possibility  of  constructing  an 
exact  science  of  society  may  be  justly  doubted. 
But  it  is  possible,  undoubtedly,  to  develop  a 
deeper  and  wider  knowledge  of  the  principles 
which  are  essential  to  the  welfare  of  society. 
This  I  understand  to  be  the  noble  aim  of  the 
American  Social  Science  Association.  Social 
science,  defined  by  the  practical  purposes  of  the 
association,  is  that  process  of  thought,  research, 
and  action  which  seeks  to  discover  and  apply 
the  principles  which  make  for  the  good  of  society. 
Social  science  cannot,  therefore,  be  a  matter 
of  indifference  to  any  man  who  knows  what  it  is 
and  who  realises  his  complex  relations  as  a  social 
being.  In  the  eft'ort  to  evolve  the  one  harmo- 
nious truth  of  society,  it  sweeps  the  whole 
keyboard  of  human  interests,  and  touches  some- 
where each  individual  in  the  great  aggregate. 
It  comprehends  all  those  conditions  of  vice, 
disease,  crime,  poverty,  strife,  suffering,  and 
wrong  which  quiver  through  every  nerve  of  the 
social  organism.  It  seeks  to  answer  the  ques- 
tions which  are  extorted  from  a  suffering 
humanity  by  these  conditions,  to  discover  the 


RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL   SCIENCE.  383 

hidden  causes,  and  to  apply  the  remedy.  It  is 
necessarily  related  to  all  those  forces  by  which 
good  government  may  be  established,  just  laws 
made,  crime  repressed  and  prevented,  criminals 
reformed,  public  morality  advanced,  and  sound 
principles  of  economy,  trade,  and  finance  dif- 
fused. Surely  a  science  so  wide  in  its  scope, 
and  vital  to  the  welfare  of  each  member  of  the 
body,  can  be  foreign  to  the  interests  of  none 
but  the  Ishmaelites  of  mankind. 

I  am  to  speak  of  one  of  the  forces  which 
social  science  recognises  as  a  necessary  factor 
in  the  problem  of  society.  The  subject  as- 
signed me  is  social  science  in  its  relations  to 
religion. 

That  religion,  in  some  form,  has  entered  into 
society  and  exerted  a  powerful  influence,  will 
of  course  be  admitted.  It  is  a  fact  of  history, 
and  needs  no  proof. 

That  it  is  a  necessary  social  element  we  may 
also  safely  assume.  The  least  partial  students 
of  social  science  adm.it  this.  Says  Herbert 
Spencer:  "  However  dominant  may  become  the 
moral  sentiment  enlisted  in  behalf  of  humanity, 
it  can  never  exclude  the  sentiment,  alone  prop- 


384         RELIGION  ^ND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

erly  called  religious,  awakened  by  that  which  is 
behind  humanity  and  behind  all  other  things. 
A  rehgious  system  is  a  normal  and  essential 
factor  in  every  evolving  society.  The  special- 
ties of  it  have  certain  fitnesses  to  the  social 
conditions.  While  its  form  is  temporary,  its 
substance  is  permanent.  Physical  science  also, 
in  crowding  out  the  old  faith,  recognises  the 
need  of  some  religion  by  offering  its  cosmic 
emotions  as  a  substitute." 

But  we  may  go  a  step  further,  and  assume 
also  that  the  religion  which  has  entered  into 
and  baptised  our  civilisation  with  the  name  of 
its  founder,  Christ,  has  claims  upon  social  sci- 
ence v/hich  no  other  religion  presents.  You 
will  not  expect  me  to  enter  upon  a  comparison 
of  religions  to  prove  this.  There  can  be  no 
question  of  precedence  in  authority  between 
it  and  the  systems  of  Sakya-muni,  Confucius, 
Zoroaster,  or  Mohammed.  We  may  recognise 
in  these  many  germs  of  the  truth.  We  admit 
that  Judaism  is  the  stock  out  of  which  it  grew. 
But  there  is  no  rivalry  between  these  systems 
and  Christianity.  It  has  an  acknowledged 
superiority,   which  can  only   be  contested  by 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE.         38$ 

some  of  those  products  of  modern  thought 
which  propose  to  supersede  it.  None  of  them, 
however,  have  attained  sufficient  ripeness  to  be 
treated  otherwise  than  incidentally  in  their 
relations  to  the  religion  of  Christ. 

We  shall  take  it  for  granted,  therefore,  that 
by  the  term  "  religion,"  in  the  question  before 
us,  the  Christian  religion  is  meant. 

What  has  social  science  to  do  with  it,  or,  in 
other  words,  what  has  the  eager,  prying  thought 
of  the  age,  which  seeks  to  evolve  order  out  of 
social  chaos,  to  do  with  the  "  true  light,  which 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world"  ? 

We  claim  that  Christianity  is  related  to  social 
science  in  the  fact  that  it  discloses  principles 
and  sets  in  motion  forces  which  are  vital  to  the 
interests  of  society  in  all  its  departments. 

We  do  not  claim  that  it  supplies  rules  which 
apply  to  every  specific  relation  of  our  social  life. 
We  should  entirely  miss  its  distinctive  charac- 
ter if  we  applied  it  in  this  way.  Rules  are  the 
outgrowth  of  principles,  and  may  be  modified 
by  circumstances.  Christianity  embodies  the 
unchanging  principles.  It  contains  the  first 
truths  of  society,  which  are  as  inseparable  from 


386         RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

its  growth  and  perfection  as  an  organic  whole 
as  the  silent  influences  outstreaming  from  the 
sun  are  inseparable  from  the  development  of 
the  kingdom  of  nature. 

Now,  in  order  to  demonstrate  this,  we  must 
show  what  the  religion  of  the  Bible  essentially  is. 

The  portion  of  Scripture  just  read  discloses 
the  essence  of  it.  The  certain  lawyer  who 
stood  up  and  tempted  Christ,  saying,  "  What 
shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?  "  gave  expres- 
sion to  the  need  which  religion  meets.  He  was 
referred  back  to  the  law  of  which  he  was  a 
teacher.  "What  is  written  in  the  law?"  said 
Christ,  "  how  readest  thou  ?  "  He  answered  : 
"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength ; 
and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  Our  Lord 
declared  that  he  had  answered  right.  "  Do 
this,"  He  added,  "  and  thou  shalt  live." 

Now,  it  is  at  just  this  point  of  doing  that  the 
relations  of  Christianity  to  Judaism  appear.  It 
is  true  that  the  lawyer  stated  that  which  was 
the  essence  of  religion  under  the  law,  but 
Christ  assented  to  it  as  the  necessary  condition 
of   eternal  hfe  under  the  gospel.     He  intro- 


RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL   SCIENCE.  387 

duced  no  new  law.  He  expressly  said  that  He 
came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  The  grand 
end  of  His  mission  was  not  to  create  a  new 
religion,  but  to  realise  the  old  in  the  new  life 
which  He  created.  The  love  which  a  stern 
"  thou  shalt "  could  not  compel.  He  warmed 
into  being  by  the  manifestation  of  God's  con- 
straining love.  He  transferred  the  sanctions  of 
law  from  Sinai  to  Calvary.  The  faith  which 
He  requires  is  a  faith  which  works  by  love  —  a 
faith  which  Paul  declares  to  be  nothing  v/ithout 
charity,  a  faith  which  proves  itself  by  loyalty  to 
Christ;  and  "  This,"  He  says,  "is  my  command- 
ment, that  ye  love  one  another,  as  I  have  loved 
you."  It  was  a  new  commandment  in  the 
measure  and  motive  of  it — "as  I  have  loved 
you  " ;  but  in  principle  it  was,  as  John  tells  his 
disciples,  the  "  old  commandment  which  ye 
have  heard  from  the  beginning."  Because 
"  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,"  Christianity 
exalts  charity,  or  love,  above  all  other  virtues. 

The  essence  of  religion,  therefore,  is  the  same 
under  the  gospel  as  under  the  law.  But  Chris- 
tianity, as  distinguished  from  Judaism,  is  that 
truth  embodied  in  Jesus  Christ  which  estab- 


388         RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

lishes  man  in  relations  of  love  to  God  and  his 
fellow- men. 

In  reaching  this  definition  of  religion  we  gain 
an  important  point,  for  we  prove  that  it  is  su- 
perior to  those  distortions  of  it  which  are  so 
commonly  confounded  with  it;  we  separate  it 
from  the  miscomprehensions  and  perversions 
which  human  ignorance  or  prejudice  has  fas- 
tened upon  it ;  we  refute  the  assertion  that  its 
"  ideal  is  negative  rather  than  positive,  passive 
rather  than  active,  innocence  rather  than  noble- 
ness, abstinence  from  evil  rather  than  energetic 
pursuit  of  good";  we  see  that  it  is  more  than 
its  institutions,  its  theologies,  and  its  rituals. 
These  may  be  defective,  and  change  their 
forms  from  age  to  age ;  but  religion  works 
through  them  to  ripeness,  as  the  grain  of  mus- 
tard-seed to  which  it  is  likened  develops  through 
slow  processes  into  a  great  tree,  or  a  little 
leaven  leavens  gradually  the  whole  lump. 

We  are  to  show  that  religion  in  this  sense  is 
vital  to  the  interests  of  society.  The  law, 
"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength; 
and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  regards  man  in 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE.         389 

a  threefold  relation — to  himself,  to  his  neigh- 
bour, and  to  his  God.  The  principles  of 
Christianity  are  really  contained  in  the  one  law 
of  love,  which  is  to  govern  these  relations. 

The  duties  which  belong  to  man  in  his  rela- 
tions to  himself  and  to  his  neighbours  constitute 
morahty.  No  one  presumes  to  doubt  that 
morality  is  vital  to  the  welfare  of  society.  All 
science — physical,  metaphysical,  and  social — 
bears  witness  to  its  sacred  and  supreme  impor- 
tance. All  serious  scientific  thinkers  are  quick 
to  repudiate  an  immoral  tendency  in  their 
teaching.  Systems  which  conflict  with  Chris- 
tianity, and  ignore  immortality  and  a  personal 
God,  are  foremost  to  claim  a  moral  good  as 
their  logical  outcome. 

It  is  clear  that  under  the  head  of  man's 
relations  to  himself  and  to  his  neighbour  all 
possible  social  questions  are  included.  It  is  the 
work  of  social  science  to  discover  the  obliga- 
tions which  belong  to  those  relations.  Social 
science  is,  therefore,  inseparably  rooted  in  moral- 
ity. Now,  in  the  precept,  "Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  we  have  a  moral 
principle  of  fundamental  and  unchanging  im- 


390 


RELIGION  AND  HOCML  SCIENCE. 


portance.  This  is  so  manifest  that  the  best  of 
our  sceptical  philosophers  agree  to  approve  it. 
John  Stuart  Mill  classes  it  with  those  noble 
moralities  of  which  he  says  it  is  impossible 
"that  they  should  be  forgotten  or  cease  to  be 
operative  on  the  human  conscience  while  hu- 
man beings  remain  cultivated  or  civilised." 
Comte,  the  philosopher  of  the  new  religion  of 
humanity,  makes  it  the  centre  of  his  system — 
"  the  First  Commandment,  to  which  there  is  no 
second."  We  are  aware  that  they  do  not 
credit  it  to  Christianity,  that  they  are  very 
careful  to  show  that  it  originated  in  the  ancient 
philosophies,  and  to  displace  it  from  its  reli- 
gious sanctions. 

It  is  sufficient,  however,  for  our  present  pur- 
pose that  the  worth  of  it  is  admitted,  and  that 
Christ  has  made  it  the  centre  of  His  moral  sys- 
tem. It  detracts  nothing  from  the  lustre  of 
Christianity  that  there  should  have  been  dim 
prophecies  of  its  fulness  in  the  twilight  of  man's 
moral  development.  We  are  not  jealous  of  the 
gray  dawn,  because  it  anticipates  the  sun. 

It  is  something  that  we  find  in  it  a  common 
denominator,  accepted  by  sceptics  and  believers 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


391 


alike,  around  which  they  may  rally,  and  from 
which  they  may  work  out,  theoretically  at  least, 
the  problems  of  society. 

We  claim  that  to  love  your  neighbour  as 
yourself  is  not  only  an  excellent  principle,  but 
that  it  is  in  itself  a  perfect  and  inclusive 
morality. 

The  love  required  is  not  a  mere  sentimental 
fondness,  but  regard  for  the  good  of  my  neigh- 
bour as  for  my  ov/n,  involving  the  will  and 
effort  to  secure  it. 

The  limit  of  the  obligation  is  humanity, 
wherever  it  touches  or  may  be  influenced  b}^ 
me.  Christ  answered  the  question,  "  Who  is 
my  neighbour?"  in  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan.  He  showed  that,  as  the  Samaritan 
was  neighbour  to  the  Jew,  his  traditional  foe, 
so  the  Jew  was  to  "  go  and  do  likewise."  In  the 
reciprocal  sympathies  of  a  common  humanity, 
which  should  be  stronger  than  the  antago- 
nisms of  a  race,  sect,  or  feeling,  true  neighbour- 
hood was  to  be  found. 

The  principle  necessarily  works  out  the  most 
perfect  development  of  the  individual  life.  I 
am  not  to  love  myself  more  than  my  neighbour. 


392 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


nor  my  neighbour  more  than  myself.  I  am  to 
regard  society  as  one  great  self,  of  which  my- 
self is  a  part.  I  am  to  seek  my  own  good  as  a 
necessary  element  in  the  good  of  the  whole. 
If  I  love  myself  merely  for  the  sake  of  myself, 
immediate  self-gratification  is  the  law  of  my  life. 
There  is  no  bridle  upon  my  passions — envy, 
malice,  lust,  cruelty,  injustice,  treachery,  ava- 
rice, asserting  themselves,  at  the  cost  of  every 
pure  disposition  of  the  soul. 

But  if  I  love  myself  for  the  sake  of  my  rieigh- 
bour,  regard  for  his  good  is  the  limit  of  self- 
indulgence.  I  must  curb  the  thoughts  which 
would  kindle  evil  passions.  I  must  restrain  the 
passions  which  would  defame,  defile,  defraud, 
or  destroy.  I  must  keep  my  body  in  temper- 
ance, soberness,  and  chastity,  and  my  tongue 
from  evil-speaking,  lying,  and  slandering.  I 
must  be  not  only  harmless,  but  a  useful  mem- 
ber of  society,  developing  all  my  powers.  I 
must  be  as  careful  to  preserve  health,  in  order 
that  I  may  neither  be  a  burden  nor  transmit 
disease,  as  I  am  to  preserve  character,  in  order 
that  my  influence  may  be  v/holesome. 

The  law  of  love,  therefore,  puts  self  where  it 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE.         393 

belongs.  It  does  not  involve  entire  self-abnega- 
tion, as  some  have  claimed.  It  perfectly  recon- 
ciles the  principles  of  egoism  and  altruism,  as 
Spencer  calls  them,  or,  to  use  more  familiar 
terms,  "self-love  and  love  for  others."  These 
are  not  contradictory  principles.  Self  and 
others  find  their  essential  unity  in  the  one 
inclusive  law  of  love,  as  the  planets,  moving  in 
their  separate  orbits,  are  parts  of  a  majestic 
system,  and  roll  on  without  jarring,  in  perfect 
order,  under  the  one  harmonising  law  of  gravi- 
tation. Legitimate  self-love  is  simply  love 
governing  self  or  the  individual  in  the  interests 
of  society.  I  am  a  unit  of  the  great  aggregate. 
Social  science  says  the  character  of  the  aggre- 
gate is  determined  by  the  character  of  the  units. 
The  law  of  love  is  the  true  social  principle, 
which  requires  that  the  units  shall  live,  not  for 
self  and  others,  not  for  self  in  others,  but  for 
self  for  the  sake  of  others.  The  more  un- 
selfishly we  aim  at  the  good  of  others,  the 
stronger  is  the  motive  to  acquire,  that  we  may 
impart;  to  take  care  of  ourselves,  that  we  may 
be  helpful  to  others ;  to  cultivate  our  best 
powers,  that  society  may  reap  a  harvest ;  and  to 


394 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


keep  ourselves  pure,  down  to  the  least  thought 
which  may  pollute,  that  our  influence  may  be 
good.  Our  own  highest  good  comes  as  an 
incident  of  seeking  the  good  of  others.  We 
miss  it  if  we  seek  the  good  of  others  because  it 
is  for  our  good,  just  as  we  cease  to  breathe 
easily,  and  may  even  disorder  the  whole  process 
of  breathing,  if  we  think  of  breathing.  "  Hon- 
esty is  the  best  policy,"  but  it  has  been  said 
that  the  man  is  a  knav^e  who  acts  upon  that 
motive. 

Through  each  individual  life  the  principle 
works  out  into  every  relation  of  society.  Love 
v/orketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbour.  The  man  who 
regards  the  good  of  his  fellows  cannot  kill, 
commit  adultery,  steal,  or  lie.  If  every  man 
could  be  brought  to  act  upon  this  principle,  the 
problem  of  prevention  and  repression  of  crime 
would  be  effectually  solved ;  there  would  be  no 
crime. 

But  regard  for  our  neighbour's  good  does 
more  than  merely  restrain  from  evil-doing.  It 
impels  to  the  most  generous  fulfilment  of  every 
social  duty.  It  necessarily  enforces  the  obliga- 
tions of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child, 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


395 


governor  and  governed,  buyer  and  seller, 
employer  and  employed.  By  the  operation  of 
this  law  there  would  be  a  high  tide  of  faithful- 
ness running  through  and  perfectly  fulfilling  all 
these  relations.  If  faithfulness  is  secured  in  all 
these  relations,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  there  must 
be  purity  in  the  relations  of  the  sexes ;  that  the 
sacredness  of  the  marriage  bond  is  preserved ; 
that  the  family  is  protected ;  that  the  truest 
liberty  and  order  would  result  from  wise  legis- 
lation and  pure  patriotism ;  that  the  channels 
of  trade  would  be  purged  from  dishonesty ;  and 
that  the  problem  of  labour  and  capital  would 
be  solved  by  a  just  and  generous  system  of 
cooperation. 

We  have  not,  hov/ever,  yet  reached  the  limit 
of  the  operation  of  this  law.  It  v/idens  from 
duty  into  the  broadest  benevolence.  To  love 
my  neighbour  as  myself  is  to  have  a  living 
sympathy  for  man  as  man,  and  to  care  for  him 
as  I  care  for  myself,  or,  in  other  v\^ords,  to  con- 
sider his  wants  as  well  as  his  rights.  It  does 
not  require  me  to  supply  the  wants  of  those 
who  are  able  to  supply  their  own  v;ants.  This 
would  not  be  for  their  good.     It  would  foster 


396  RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

indolence  and  pauperism,  and  be  a  wrong  to 
society.  The  law  of  love  requires  me  to  act 
upon  the  apostolic  rule,  "  If  any  man  will  not 
work,  neither  shall  he  eat."  That  indiscrim- 
inate giving  which  gratifies  an  indolent  com- 
passion is  no  part  of  it.  True  charity  seeks  to 
know  and  supply  the  real  wants  of  men,  and 
not  their  merely  superficial  needs.  The  real 
v/ant  of  the  pauper  class  is  help  to  earn  their 
own  living  by  honest  toil.  True  charity,  there- 
fore, moved  by  a  real  concern  for  human 
welfare,  will  seek  to  do  thorough  work  by 
reforming  the  vicious  and  indolent,  restoring 
their  self-respect,  and  lifting  them  up  to  the 
level  of  usefulness  again. 

But  for  those  who  are  not  able  to  supply 
their  own  wants  —  the  weak,  the  sick,  the  dis- 
abled in  body  or  in  mind,  the  oppressed  and 
the  suffering — the  law  of  love  provides  sym.- 
pathy  and  care. 

While  it  intensifies  the  claims  of  kinship  and 
of  friendship,  it  makes  of  equal  obligation  that 
which  indeed  includes  them  both,  the  claims  of 
humanity.  A  beautiful  virtue  has  grown  up 
out   of   this    broad    obligation    which    we  call 


RELIGION  /ihlD  SOCUL  SCIENCE.  397 

humanity.  It  is  the  affection  which  corre- 
sponds to  the  idea  of  universal  brotherhood.  It 
tends  to  organise  mankind  as  one  great  family, 
in  which  there  should  always  be  a  mother's 
love  to  embrace  the  orphan,  strong  arms  for 
the  infirm  to  lean  upon,  healing  ministries  for 
the  sick,  strength,  health,  knowledge,  wealth, 
wisdom,  circulating  through  all  the  members, 
according  to  their  several  needs,  while  sym- 
pathy is  everywhere  the  prevailing  healing 
influence. 

Is  it  not  evident  that  under  this  law  of 
benevolence  the  causes  of  the  ills  which  afflict 
society  are  reached  and  remedied  as  they  could 
not  be  by  any  external  measure?  Legislation 
may  do  much  to  repress  intemperance,  regulate 
sanitary  conditions,  prevent  pauperism,  and 
improve  prison  discipline,  but  it  cannot  touch 
the  heart.  It  has  in  it  the  power  of  relief,  but 
not  of  reform.  It  may  reach  want,  but  not 
character;  and  till  that  is  reached  nothing 
effectual  or  permanent  is  done.  It  is  imper- 
sonal, and  therefore  none  of  the  measures 
which  it  enforces  can  supply  the  force  which 
personal  charity  in  the  warmth  of  its  zeal  exerts 


398  RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

to  help  reform  and  elevate  mankind.  "  There 
is  no  achievement,"  says  a  master  in  moral 
science,  "  like  that  of  lifting  a  man  sunk  in  vice 
and  enchained  by  evil  habits  on  to  the  high 
ground  of  Christian  manhood,  and  fixing  him 
permanently  there ;  and  the  more  there  is  of 
sympathy  and  of  effort  for  this,  the  more  is  the 
character  improved." 

Now,  I  think  it  must  be  plain  to  all  my 
hearers  that  the  self-sacrifice  which  this  law 
requires  is  not  a  fanatical  self-annihilation,  but 
a  pure  disinterestedness,  which,  in  a  generous 
care  for  the  good  of  all,  necessarily  subordi- 
nates the  profit,  the  pleasure,  the  care,  the 
interests,  of  self.  Will  any  one  say  that  such 
self-sacrifice  does  not  tend  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  society?  It  has  been  argued  that  work, 
enterprise,  invention,  improvement,  arise  out  of 
the  principle  that,  among  citizens  severally 
having  unsatisfied  wants,  each  cares  more  to 
satisfy  his  own  wants  than  the  wants  of  others, 
and,  therefore,  unqualified  altruism,  in  causing 
every  man  to  care  more  to  satisfy  the  wants  of 
others  than  his  own,  would  dissolve  all  existing 
social  organisation.     But  to  love  your  neigh- 


RELIGION  /IND  SOCIAL   SCIENCE.  399 


bour  as  yourself  is  not  an  unqualified  altruisnn. 
It  does  not  require  us  to  care  more  for  the  in- 
terests of  others  than  for  our  own,  but,  in  caring 
to  supply  our  own  wants,  to  care  equally  for 
the  wants  of  others.  It  is  just  because  men 
care  more  to  supply  their  own  wants  than  the 
wants  of  others  that  their  enterprises  become 
monopolies,  their  pleasures  breed  corruption, 
their  trade  is  disturbed  by  fraud,  their  politics 
disorder  the  state.  Self-denial  is  the  corrective 
of  these  evils.  It  is  a  necessary  condition  of 
every  social  reform.  The  clashing  interests  of 
the  individual  and  society  cannot  be  adjusted  if 
the  individual  does  not  restrain  himself  at  the 
point  where  indulgence  becomes  selfishness. 
The  law  of  love  is  irreconcilable  with  selfish- 
ness.    It  neutralises  it  absolutely. 

In  neutralising  selfishness  it  neutralises  that 
which  we  call  sin,  for  sin  is  essentially  selfish- 
ness. If  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  that 
transgression  of  the  law  which  is  called  sin  must 
be  the  opposite  of  love — selfishness.  If  sin  is 
the  element  which  has  poisoned  the  fountains 
of  society,  love  is  the  antidote  which  can  make 
the  bitter  waters  sweet.     To  love  your  neigh- 


400 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


hour  as  yourself,  therefore,  is  a  perfect  and 
inclusive  morality. 

But  we  claim  that  this  morality  cannot  be 
realised  in  action  without  religion. 

To  "  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  soul,  and  strength,  and  mind  "  is  the 
essence  of  religion.  This  is  its  first  and  great 
commandment.  But  to  "  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself "  is  incorporate  with  it  and  a  necessary 
part  of  it — the  second  commandment,  which  is 
Hke  unto  it. 

Christianity  creates  the  force  ivhich  realises 
the  obedience  which  these  laivs  deuiaiid.  It 
inspires  the  love  which  is  the  sum  of  our  duty 
to  God  and  man.  "  We  love  Him,  because  He 
first  loved  us."  "The  gospel  is  the  revelation 
of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh."  He  is  brought 
near  to  us,  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  our  Father.  By 
entering  into  human  relations  with  us  through 
His  Son,  the  possibilities  of  a  like  sonship  are 
disclosed  to  our  prodigal  humanity.  He  pro- 
vides in  the  one  mysterious  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
completed  on  the  cross,  a  reconciHation  of 
infinite  righteousness  with  pardoning  grace, 
which  satisfies  our  souls,  affords  a  ground  of 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


401 


peace,  and  clears  a  way  of  access  to  the  throne. 
He  opens  upon  those  who  beheve  in  His  Son  a 
flood  of  h'ght  and  Hfe  and  lo\'e  which  trans- 
forms them.  The  darkness,  spectral  with  igno- 
rance and  fear  and  guilt,  is  scattered,  and  they 
stand  under  the  cloudless  firmament  of  the 
divine  Fatherhood.  Faith  is  simply  the  unclos- 
ing of  the  closed  eyes  to  God  in  Christ.  But 
with  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  comes  the  spirit 
of  life.  There  is  a  new  day  for  the  man  who 
believes,  making  a  new  life — new  in  its  knov;- 
ledge,  its  relations,  its  obligations,  and  its 
motives.  He  has  learned  to  "love  the  Lord 
his  God  with  all  his  heart." 

Loving  God,  he  loves  his  fellow-men,  because 
this  is  His  commandment,  that  "  ye  love  one 
another,  as  I  have  loved  you,"  because  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  in  our  human  nature,  and  to 
redeem  it,  gives  it  new  worth ;  because,  under 
the  consciousness  of  Fatherhood  in  God,  a  feel- 
ing of  brotherhood  for  man  is  warmed  into 
being ;  because,  as  the  sculptor,  stooping  over  a 
rough  block  of  marble,  said,  "  There  is  an  angel 
in  this  stone,  and  I  must  get  it  out,"  so  he  real- 


402 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL   SCIENCE. 


ises  that  there  are  angeUc  possibiHties  in  tlic 
rudest  of  mankind. 

Nov/,  if,  as  Herbert  Spencer  insists,  conduct 
depends  upon  feehng,  and  therefore  legisla- 
tion, education,  and  the  mere  inculcation  of 
moral  precepts  are  powerless  to  work  moral 
reforms,  surely  religion  supplies  in  the  feeling 
which  it  excites  a  moral  force  of  the  first 
importance  to  society.  Can  there  be  a  higher 
feeling  than  the  love  of  God  which  it  inspires  ? 
Must  it  not  produce  the  highest  kind  of  char- 
acter and  of  action?  There  may  be,  of  course, 
a  certain  kind  of  moral  action  without  religion. 
Men  may  be  kept  in  the  grooves  of  moral  duty 
by  the  pressure  of  fear,  self-interest,  custom.,  or 
public  sentiment.  But  there  is  no  "  living  spirit 
in  the  wheels."  The  true  morality  which  pro- 
ceeds from  a  principle  of  love  to  our  neighbour, 
and  is  a  governing,  unifying,  and  regenerating 
social  force,  derives  its  motive  power  from  the 
love  of  God, 

It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  uniform  ten- 
dency of  Christianity  has  been  to  produce  such 
a  morality.  This  appears  in  its  singularly 
aggressive  character.     It  has  kindled  in  its  dis- 


RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL   SCIENCE.  40^ 


ciples  a  burning  enthusiasm  for  humanity ;  it 
has  made  them  eager  to  do  good  to  their 
fellow-men ;  it  has  reached  and  leavened, 
through  their  efforts,  whole  nations. 

It  appears  also  in  the  personal  graces  of 
humility,  meekness,  patience,  forgiveness,  truth, 
and  charity,  which  are  peculiarly  its  own ;  in 
the  sanctity  which  it  has  given  to  human  life ; 
in  the  honour  which  it  has  restored  to  woman ; 
in  the  sacredness  which  it  has  attached  to  the 
marriage  bond ;  in  the  place  which  it  has  given 
to  the  family  as  the  true  unit  of  society ;  in  the 
beautiful  home  life  which  has  sprung  up  in  its 
path ;  in  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery ;  in 
diminishing  the  atrocity  of  wars,  and  in  develop- 
ing the  unity  of  nations. 

We  know  that  these  efifects  have  been  pro- 
duced through  strife,  revolution,  and  blood.  It 
could  not  be  otherwise,  progressing,  as  Christian- 
ity has  done,  through  human  infirmity,  igno- 
rance, and  sin.  But  the  fact  remains  that  it  is 
everywhere  associated  with  the  best  fruits  of 
social  progress  and  the  highest  and  purest  civili- 
sation. 

The  argument  is   strengthened    bv   another 


404  RELIGION  AhID  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

fact,  which  is  an  undeniable  fact  of  history,  viz., 
that  the  law  of  love  was  not  a  regenerating  so- 
cial force  before  the  dawn  of  Christianity. 

It  is  true  that  Cicero  maintained  the  doctrine 
of  universal  brotherhood  as  distinctly  as  it  was 
afterwards  maintained  by  the  Christian  Church; 
that  Lucan  expatiated  with  all  the  fervour  of  a 
Christian  poet  upon  "  the  time  when  the  human 
race  will  cast  aside  its  weapons  and  all  nations 
learn  to  love " ;  that  Seneca  anticipated  the 
highest  Christian  duty  when  he  said :  "  The 
duty  of  a  citizen  is  in  nothing  to  consider  his 
own  interests  distinct  from  that  of  others,  as  the 
hand  or  foot,  if  they  possessed  reason  and  un- 
derstood the  lav/  of  nature,  would  do,  and  wish 
nothing  that  had  not  some  relation  to  the  rest 
of  the  body  " ;  that  Marcus  Aurehus,  in  medi- 
tations (not  derived  from  Christianity),  em- 
bodied the  purest  moral  sentiments. 

It  is  true  that  Judaism  contains  the  law  of 
love,  and  that  the  ethics  of  Christianity  were 
reflected  in  scattered  fragments,  as  in  a  broken 
mirror,  through  all  the  ethnic  religions. 

But  it  is  also  true  that  the  moral  ideas  which 
lay  Hke  the  dry  bones  in  Ezekiel's  vision  upon 


RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL   SCIENCE. 


405 


the  surface  of  the  ancient  world,  some  of  them 
jointed  into  systems  of  religion  and  philosophy, 
did  not  become  instinct  with  life  and  rise  up,  a 
mighty  living  host,  until  Christ  came  and  breathed 
upon  them  the  breath  of  God.  He  did  not 
merely  utter  pure  sentiments  :  He  reahsed  them 
in  His  own  spotless  character  and  holy  life. 
He  gave  to  the  world,  in  Himself,  the  inspira- 
tion of  a  great  moral  ideal.  "  In  Him  was  life, 
and  the  life  was  the  Hght  of  men." 

The  testimony  of  Lecky  is  valuable  in  this 
connection,  because  he  is  no  partial  witness  for 
Christianity.  He  displays  the  broad  chasm 
that  existed  between  the  Roman  moralists  and 
the  Roman  people.  "  On  the  one  hand,"  he 
says,  "  we  find  a  system  of  ethics  of  which, 
when  we  consider  the  range  and  beauty  of  its 
prospects,  the  sublimity  of  the  motives  to  which 
it  appealed,  and  its  perfect  freedom  from  super- 
stitious elements,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that, 
though  it  may  have  been  equalled,  it  has  never 
been  surpassed.  On  the  other  hand,  we  find  a 
society  almost  destitute  of  moralising  institu- 
tions, occupations,  or  beliefs,  existing  under  an 
economical  and  political  system  V4'hich  inevitably 


4o6         RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL   SCIENCE. 

led  to  general  depravity,  and  passionately  ad- 
dicted to  the  most  brutalising  amusements. 
The  moral  code,  while  it  expanded  in  theoret- 
ical catholicity,  had  contracted  in  practical  ap- 
plications." He  shows  that  the  regenerating 
power  of  Christianity,  contrasted  with  a  beauti- 
ful but  lifeless  philosophy,  resided  in  the  fact 
that  it  united  with  its  distinctive  teaching  a 
pure  and  noble  system  of  ethics,  which  it  proved 
itself  capable  of  realising  in  action. 

Nov.%  John  Stuart  Mill  finds  fault  wdth  reli- 
gion because  it  tends  to  stereotype  morahty,  and 
may,  therefore,  seem  to  give  divine  sanctions  to 
false  principles.  But  he  admits  that  to  love 
your  neighbour  as  yourself  is  a  noble  morality, 
which  society  can  never  outgrow  and  remain 
civilised.  It  is  the  distinctive  glory  of  Chris- 
tianity that  it  /las  stereotyped  this  principle  as 
its  own  all-inclusive  morality,  and  enforced  it  by 
divine  sanctions.  Is  there  not  a  strong  pre- 
sumptive evidence  that  Christianity  is  really  of 
God  in  the  fact  that  it  has  made  of  supreme 
obligation  and  quickened  into  life  a  principle  of 
such  universal  and  acknowledged  fitness? 

We  have  not  time  to  enlarge  upon  the  obvious 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


407 


fact  that  in  proportion  as  scepticism  prevails 
morality  declines. 

France  tried  the  experiment  of  demolishing 
the  altars  of  religion,  putting  its  profession 
under  legal  ban,  and  inaugurating  atheism  as 
the  creed  of  the  state.  Was  it  a  mere  coinci- 
dence that  during  the  eclipse  of  faith  there 
should  have  been  a  reign  of  anarchy  which 
threatened  to  dissolve  society  ?  "  We  are  the 
only  people,"  writes  a  journalist  of  that  time, 
"  in  the  world,  who  ever  attempted  to  do  with- 
out religion.  But  what  is  already  our  sad  ex- 
perience? Every  tenth  day  [the  Sabbath  of 
the  infidels]  we  are  astounded  by  the  recital  of 
more  crimes  and  assassinations  than  were  com- 
mitted formerly  in  a  whole  year.  At  the  risk 
of  speaking  an  obsolete  language  and  receiving 
insult  for  response,  we  declare  that  we  must 
cease  striving  to  destroy  the  remnants  of  reli- 
gion if  we  desire  to  prevent  the  entire  dissolution 
of  society." 

The  honest  student  of  social  science  cannot  be 
blind  to  the  fact  that  where  scepticism  prevails 
in  our  land  morality  declines.  We  have  glaring 
and  alarming  proofs  of  it  in  movements  which. 


4o8         RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

ignoring  religion,  organise  class  against  class, 
relax  the  sanctities  of  marriage,  strike  at  the 
foundations  of  our  domestic  life,  and  publicly 
announce  "  free-love  "  conventions  in  terms,  as 
some  one  has  well  said,  "  which  might  have  been 
translated  from  recovered  literary  memorials  of 
Sodom." 

Let  Christianity,  with  its  revelation  of  God, 
its  ennobling  motives,  its  hopes  and  promises,  its 
immortahty  of  righteousness  and  peace,  be 
utterly  annihilated, —  let  the  Christ  whose  story 
has  "  done  more  to  regenerate  and  to  soften 
mankind  than  all  the  disquisitions  of  philoso- 
phers and  all  the  exhortations  of  moralists"  be 
proved  a  myth, —  and  what  would  remain? 
Would  the  "  religion  of  humanity,"  which  the 
noblest  of  our  sceptical  thinkers  have  dreamed 
of,  prevail?  It  is  a  beautiful  idea,  but  it  has 
had  but  one  living  ideal,  Christ,  and  He  first 
inspired  the  thought.  It  might  linger  among 
the  few  for  a  time,  but  it  could  have  no  power 
over  the  passions  and  conduct  of  the  mass.  It 
would  be  as  far  from  the  people  as  the  stoical 
philosophy  was  from  the  people  of  its  time. 
There  would  be  no  sacredness  in  human  life, 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


409 


that  it  should  be  regarded ;  no  special  worth  to 
human  nature,  that  it  should  be  honoured ;  no 
sufficient  motive  in  a  posthumous  influence  for 
good  to  overcome  the  lusts  of  the  present. 
"  Let  us  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry  to-day :  for 
to-morrow  we  die,"  would  be  the  maxim  of  the 
multitude. 

We  admit  that  there  are  refined  thinkers  in 
whom  moral  feelings  and  habits  survive  after 
religion  has  been  rejected.  But  they  survive 
as  flowers  retain  fragrance  and  colour  after  they 
are  plucked,  or  the  tree  which  has  been  killed 
at  the  roots  puts  forth  for  a  season  a  few  green 
leaves ;  noble  sentiments  may  remain,  but 
moral  principle,  drained  of  its  vital  juices,  in- 
evitably v/ithers  into  selfishness. 

"  Take  my  word  for  it,"  said  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
"  it  is  not  prudent,  as  a  rule,  to  trust  yourself  to 
any  man  who  tells  you  that  he  does  not  believe 
in  a  God  or  in  a  future  after  death."  This  may 
be  regarded  as  an  extreme  and  unreasonable 
theological  prejudice.  But  place  by  the  side  of 
it  the  sentiment  of  a  zealous  servant  of  science, 
who  told  Agassiz  that  the  "  age  of  real  civilisa- 
tion would  have  begun  when  you  could  go  out 


4IO         RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

and  shoot  a  man  for  scientific  purposes."  The 
contrast  proves  that  the  statesman  was  not  so 
very  unreasonable,  after  all. 

We  will  as  briefly  as  possible  sum  up  our 
argument.  To  love  your  neighbour  as  yourself 
is  a  perfect  and  inclusive  morality ;  but  this 
morality  cannot  be  realised  in  action  apart  from 
the  Christian  religion,  which  gives  it  force  and 
vitality.  Christianity,  therefore,  v/hich  incor- 
porates our  duty  to  man  with  our  duty  to  God, 
and  inspires  the  love  which  fulfils  them,  contains 
the  principles  and  forces  which  are  fundamen- 
tally essential  to  the  welfare  of  society. 

It  follows  that  the  question  of  social  science, 
in  its  relation  to  religion,  is  not  a  question  of  the 
utility  of  religion,  but  of  the  first  truths  of  so- 
cial science  itself.  Christianity,  as  your  hon- 
oured secretary  has  well  expressed  it,  is  the 
cherishing  seed-bed  and  nursery  of  social  science. 
We  call  it  a  nev/  science,  but  it  originated  with 
Jesus  Christ.  I  once  thought  that  I  had  com- 
posed a  tune ;  but  after  several  months  I  found 
the  identical  melody,  just  as  I  had  written  it,  in 
an  old  music-book.  My  composition  was  only 
a  memory.     Our  social  science  has  its  original 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL   SCIENCE.  411 

in  the  principles  wliich  Christ  affirmed  nineteen 
centuries  ago  —  the  principles  of  humanity,  and 
universal  brotherhood,  and  eternal  right.  The 
wave  of  harmony  which  He  set  in  motion  has 
struck  our  thought,  and  formulates  itself  in  new 
methods  of  social  reform.  It  was  the  central 
idea  of  His  mission  to  new  create  the  human 
race  and  restore  it  to  God  in  the  unity  of  a 
spiritual  kingdom.  No  such  thought  as  this,  or 
nearly  proximate  to  this,  had  ever  before  been 
taken  up  by  any  living  character  in  history. 
It  was  a  conception  not  limited  to  His  own  na- 
tion, but  including  all  races  of  men,  and  cover- 
ing in  its  evolution  the  whole  of  time.  Social 
science,  to  work  out  the  truth,  must  see  in  Him 
its  master. 

It  is  a  sign  of  no  little  cheer,  when  the  air  is 
full  of  bad  omens,  that  thoughtful  men  from  all 
departments  of  activity  should  come  together  to 
consider  disinterestedly  how  the  best  welfare  of 
society  may  be  promoted. 

The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  "  a  perfect  law 
of  liberty."  Social  science,  working  out  hon- 
estly the  problems  of  society,  must,  by  the  light 
of  history  and  experience,  find  their  most  thor- 


412  RELIGION  AND   SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 

ought  solution  in  that  law  of  love  to  God  and 
man.  It  must,  as  it  searches  into  the  principles 
of  phenomena,  ultimately  work  back  to  Christ 
as  the  essential  factor  in  a  perfect  civilisation. 

In  its  practical  relations  to  religion  it  must  be 
tolerant  of  differences  and  allow  for  the  various 
forms  and  phases  through  which  the  essential 
principles  are  progressing.  It  should  enlist  the 
minds  and  energies  of  Christian  men.  It  is  the 
special  province  of  the  churches.  Your  associa- 
tion has  a  John  Baptist's  work  to  do  in  opening 
up  the  needs  and  making  straight  in  the  desert 
a  highway  for  the  healing  ministries  of  the  gos- 
pel. It  is  for  ministers  and  members  of  our 
churches  to  consider  the  practical  needs  of  the 
age,  and  to  take  care  that  back  of  their  creeds 
and  rituals  and  various  methods  there  be  the 
spirit  of  love  to  the  Master  and  love  towards 
those  for  whom  He  died,  "  Though  I  speak 
with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and  have 
not  love,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass  or  a 
tinkling  cymbal." 

I  believe  that  just  in  proportion  as  we  con- 
sider the  needs  of  our  fellow-men,  and  let  love 
hold  sway  in  our  hearts,  shall  we  come  up  out 


RELIGION  AND  SOCIAL   SCIENCE.  413 

of  our  sectarian  differences  and  find  the  common 
ground  of  essential  truth.  The  reconciliation 
of  differences  is  in  work — work  for  the  Master. 
It  draws  us  to  the  central  truth,  which  is  love. 
It  fulfils  the  royal  law.  Can  there  be  nobler 
work  for  statesmen,  scholars,  lawyers,  ministers, 
citizens,  than  to  discover,  exhibit,  and  apply  the 
principles  which  work  for  the  good  of  society  ? 
The  principles  of  the  gospel  prove  themselves 
true  by  their  fitness  to  our  need.  They  are  the 
leaves  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  are  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  nations.  Let  us  work  out  from  them, 
— from  the  idea  of  Fatherhood  in  God,  of  im- 
mortality in  Christ,  of  brotherhood  under  the 
law  of  love,  of  repentance  unto  life,  of  salvation 
through  faith, —  and  we  shall  be  co-workers  in 
the  Lord,  working  towards  the  regeneration 
which  He  has  promised — a  "new  heavens  and 
new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 


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